The Choices We Make
by LadyHorror92
Summary: Dr. Alice Walsh was a rising psychologist in Starfleet until one mistake leaves her career nearly destroyed. But then she's ordered by Admiral Marcus to take on the most challenging of assignments: evaluating and rehabilitating the awoken Khan. But her orders are an illusion, the truth more sinister, and her loyalties are soon tested, along with Khan's own beliefs ... Khan/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: _Set before _"Into Darkness"_ and will carry on into the movie. Eventually, it will be Khan/OC._**

**_I am by no means an expert on _Star Trek_, so while I will try to use correct terms and whatnot, a few mistakes may be made. Feel free to inform me of such mistakes and I will do my best to correct them._**

**Summary: **_**Dr. Alice Walsh was a rising psychologist within Starfleet with controversial methods until one mistake leaves her career nearly destroyed. But then she is ordered by Admiral Marcus to take on the most challenging assignment of her career – evaluating and, if possible, rehabilitating the recently awoken Khan. If she does as ordered, her career in Starfleet will advance, if not she will be left picking up the pieces as threatened by Marcus. **_

_**As the terrible reality of the sinister truth beneath her orders becomes increasingly clear, Alice and Khan grow ever closer to the point where the psychologist's loyalties begin to shift, as does the mindset of Earth's greatest tyrant. In the chaos that is to come, both Khan and Alice will have choices to make that will forever impact not only themselves, but all of Starfleet.**_

**Disclaimer: **_**I do not own **_**Star Trek**_**.**_

* * *

It was after three-in-the-morning by the time Dr. Alice Walsh arrived at the Kelvin Archives in London, and the young doctor covered her mouth as she yawned, wishing she were sound asleep in bed back home in San Francisco or drowning her sorrows in a glass of exotic wine that would knock her as a human on her ass.

Her career as a psychologist in Starfleet was essentially over because of a fatal mistake she made with one of her patients not six days ago.

Outside of work she could be the most compassionate, friendly woman one could hope to be around, but she had a very different demeanor with her patients. Often called cold and heartless, she approached her patients in a chilly manner, quick to inform them that she had a job to do and she would see it done whether they wished to speak or not. More often than not, her patients were officers in Starfleet who suffered some loss or PTSD due to some mission gone wrong, or from some other significant trauma, and many detested being coddled or pitied, so she went in the opposite direction and challenged them, poked at their wounds, and effectively pissed them off. And it worked for her. Eventually she would hit a nerve and the floodgates would open and the officer would spill their guts, their sorrows, and their problems before her, most often in a fit of tears, a scream, or with a choked voice. Only then would she become the compassionate woman she generally was, because at that point she had their trust and confidence and all that was bottled up had spilled forth until there were no more secrets.

Many officers admitted that they first thought she was a cold-hearted bitch who didn't give a damn, but at some point they would realize that she did in fact care and they were thankful that she didn't beat around the bush with them, that she was brutally honest with them. When many pitied them or tread carefully before them, she did not, and they appreciated that about her.

Only once had her tactic failed her, and that one failure ended with the young man committing suicide in her very office.

Alice was always so careful in judging her patients so as not to push too hard, but she'd completely misjudged the young, quiet officer and was too aggressive, too demanding. As a result, she inadvertently pushed him past the point of no return and in some twisted form of "fuck you" or "this is your fault" he turned his phaser that was set to kill on himself in front of her at the end of their session.

Never before had she felt such guilt. Had she not misjudged the true pain he was feeling she would have been able to help him or would have had the good sense to direct him to another doctor more equipped for his suicidal situation. But she hadn't, and her patient died. Now it appeared that her career would follow him to death as well.

A hearing was held after the incident and the blame was put solely on her for her aggressive handling of her patient, never mind the many times her methods helped, and they were very clear that she should expect to be looking for a new career because Starfleet did not want such a woman with controversial methods linked to them.

One mistake.

One mistake had led to a fatal accident and now she had the blood of a young officer with so much potential on her hands.

Her career was surely over, or so she'd assumed until she was briskly ordered by Admiral Marcus to report to London's archives for a new assignment.

She'd expressed her shock and confusion and asked what exactly the urgent assignment was, but the Admiral would give her no details, only stated that a shuttle was already waiting to transport her to London.

Being kept in the dark was not something she enjoyed, but with her career on the line she didn't push for answers and hightailed it to London with only two bags.

A car had been waiting to take her to the archives the moment she arrived in the hanger, and thus she was forced to approach the Admiral with her bags in hand, wishing that she'd been able to find a nice hotel to drop them off at.

"Commander Walsh," greeted the Admiral when she reached him outside the archives with his First Officer, holding in his hand two PADDs.

"Admiral," she replied in turn, shifting her bags in her hands.

Noticing, he turned to his First officer. "Doyle, relieve the Commander of her luggage, will you?" he instructed, and the man silently complied, taking her bags from her. To her, he apologized, "I'm sorry for bringing you here on such short notice, Dr. Walsh, but I'm afraid time is something I don't have the luxury of wasting. If you'll follow me."

"I'd be lying, Sir, if I said that I wasn't confused about all of this," she admitted, walking through the scanner after he and his officer did. Noticing the amount of security and the high-security scanner, she asked, "A little much for an archive, I would think."

Marcus didn't answer. Instead he led her to an elevator, and only after he punched in a long numeral code did it take them downward.

"This isn't an archive, Dr. Walsh," he confessed once they began their decent. "It's a facility known as Section 31 – a top-secret branch of Starfleet and dedicated to the research and development of weapons, technology, and defensive systems should Starfleet ever find itself under attack by the Klingons. Along with research and development, operatives are being trained to gather intelligence on our enemies as well as some of our more delicate allies should our friendship ever be broken."

Alice wasn't sure she heard right at first, the Admiral being so matter-of-fact quite suddenly. As far as she knew, Starfleet didn't have facilities that were wholly military based because Starfleet was based more solely on exploration.

As though reading her thoughts, he added, "Beautiful and fascinating as the galaxy may be, it is hardly a friendly place. There are many species out there who would sooner do us harm – such as the Klingons – when we intend to only study and explore. As such, we must be prepared for the worst case scenario."

She nodded slowly. "In short, offer one hand but arm the other."

"Exactly," he replied with a half-smile. "Diplomacy and offers of friendship are all well and good when it works, but nothing beats a phaser ready at your side."

The elevator slowed to a halt, the doors opening to the hallway of the underground barracks for scientists, engineers, and military personnel working long-term within Section 31. As the two men led her down the hall, Alice had a feeling she should have packed more clothes suited for a longer stay.

Grasping what the Admiral was telling her, understanding his reasons for having such a place, she wasn't entirely certain as to why she'd been brought to the secret facility, not when her career was still young despite her near success – she'd only been a psychologist for roughly four years – and certainly didn't expect to being in such a place after the incident the other day.

Coming to a room, the Admiral instructed her to punch in a passcode of her choosing and she did so. The computer processed her code before accepting it as the key to the door before allowing her and the two men entry.

The room was dreary to say the least, done in various shades of grey with minimal furniture. It was reminiscent to a cell, actually, which was disconcerting, but there was a kitchen and a bathroom, so that was a bonus.

"It isn't much," the Admiral admitted as Doyle set down her bags on the single couch. "But it should prove to be comfortable during your stay."

"With respect, Sir," Alice started, interlacing her fingers behind her back as she turned to face him. "Why am I here? Why reveal such a facility to me when I'm just a psychologist?"

Expression turning serious, Marcus approached her and gave her one of the two PADDs he'd been holding. "Four days ago, a sleeper ship known as the SS _Botany Bay_ was discovered carrying eighty-five men and women in cryostasis. A study of the ships logs revealed to us that the people within were unaccounted for Augments of the late 20th century. Among those frozen, was Khan Noonien Singh."

Alice's eyes darted up from the ship being shown on the PADD and gaped in open shock at the Admiral, unable to believe her ears.

"All but Khan are dead, and upon bringing the cryotube here we woke him up in hopes that he will help us build weapons and ships to combat the threat of the Klingons should we face open war," he explained, ignoring her shock. "Understandably, the public would be a bit concerned that _the _Augment tyrant of the 20th century was alive and well, and thus we've given him the alias John Harrison, Starfleet Commander, so he can help us with no questions being asked."

"And he just happily agreed to offer us his help?"

From what she'd studied of the Augments, of Khan, it seemed entirely unlikely that such a man would openly help them without getting something in return.

"Rest assured he and I have worked out a… deal of sorts, doctor," he assured her in a tone that was less than assuring. "Now, I understand that you did your dissertation on the behavior of the Augments of the 20th century both before and during the Eugenics Wars, am I correct?"

"Yes, Sir." There had been little information to base her dissertation on, but she managed to impress her professors all the same.

"Good," he started with a nod. "Because as of now you are officially assigned to Khan as his handler. You will shadow him during his stay here and study him. His behavior, tactics, and actions are to be noted in a report that I expect to see at the end of each week. If at all possible, you are to treat him for his rumored psychopathic tendencies – 'best tyrant' or not, the man was known to be uniquely aggressive and devious during the war. Because in the end, I would like to see the man become a functioning member of this society without feeling the urge to lord over everybody."

Alice opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. Struggling to find the respectful words of an officer within Starfleet, she sighed and asked, "Permission to speak freely, Admiral."

"Granted."

"I don't think I can do this," she deadpanned. "I mean, I treat officers suffering from PTSD, acute mental disorders resulting from combat or some tragic encounter, and a wide range of other issues, but I do not deal with… with people like _Khan_."

"Come now, you haven't met him yet."

"But I know of him," she countered. "A majority of my dissertation was focused on him. I've never treated a murderer before, certainly never a psychopath! Surely there is someone better suited for this assignment."

Marcus thought about this for a moment, and then he said, "You've got a unique way of treating your patients, Dr. Walsh. Rather than assure them that things will get better or treat them with gentle words and kid gloves, you come at them with a chilly disposition and nearly egg them into a confrontation with you."

"By not treating them with pity or kid gloves, as you put it, I make myself someone they don't have to like and can freely vent to with no boundaries, whether they choose to scream at me at the top of their lungs or break down and give into my prodding for the truth behind their problems," she explained. "Only after we've flooded the dam and establish a kind of trust do I switch gears and become a friend to them."

"And it's worked quite well for you in the past, save for the incident with Lieutenant O'Connor this past Monday." He watched her shrink ever so slightly, the memory making her pale and flinch. "What if I told you I could wipe that mark from your record? After all, certain drugs could make the Lieutenant snap, and if a few notes in your record indicate that he was doing exceptionally well up until that day, well, it would allow you to keep your career and face no judgment whatsoever, especially if I were the one defending you."

The young woman stared at him, suddenly wary. "I'm not sure I follow, Sir."

Sighing, he clarified, "Your prickly method of treatment is likely the thing Khan needs, being the kind of man he is. And just as I've made a deal with him, I will make one with you: follow the orders that I have given you, and I assure you that not a single negative mark will appear on your record. You may even find yourself promoted to ship Counselor sooner rather than later."

Her dark green eyes lit up at the prospect of being a Counselor on a ship, as it was what she hope to one day achieve, but dread tugged at the corners of her mind, and she asked slowly, "And if I refuse?"

"Then I'm afraid Starfleet will be deprived of a very bright mind, as you'll be forced to find work elsewhere," he replied sadly. "I can advance your career or I can end it. What's it going to be?"

Struck by his threat to end her career, she could say nothing for several seconds. Never in all her years would she expect such behavior and such a threat to come from an Admiral. He'd most surely be reprimanded for what he'd said and what he was doing were there anyone to challenge him, but alas there was not, and the young woman was stuck at a crossroads where either she sucked it up and did her job or was disgraced by Starfleet.

There really was no question in where her decision lay. "Give me a few hours or so, Sir, to catch up on what little we have on Khan, and I'll report for duty."

Pleased with her decision, the man gave her a fatherly smile and patted her shoulder. "Good to hear, doctor. And now that we've come to an agreement, there's no need to rush things. I'll have my chief of security escort you to Khan's quarters at 0800."

Oh, so now that he had her compliance there was no rush.

Gritting her teeth, she forced a smile.

He gave her a curt nod of farewell before turning to make his leave with his officer in tow. Only once they were out the door did she drop into the single cushioned chair and release a frustrated, tired groan.

Unable to fight the decision that had been made lest she want to lose her job, Alice sighed and retrieved the PADD that had been given to her, finding that various files of Khan had already been uploaded to it. Better to get straight to work to prepare herself before getting a little sleep.

As she opened the most recent report on the Augment, his photo appeared in the corner, giving a face to the name.

A handsome face, she noted, cocking her head slightly. Black hair, blue eyes, and pale skinned with strong features, he was definitely the most handsome of her patients, which was something to be thankful for she supposed. It matter little though whether she found him attractive or not – she wasn't there to be his friend or to flirt with him as she would were she to meet him in a bar. She was there to treat him so as not to end her career, end of story.

* * *

"Do you think she'll realize the truth, Sir?" asked Doyle as he followed Marcus back to the elevator.

Throwing a sideways glance to his First Officer and friend, he asked, "That we're using her? Eventually, yes, I suspect she will. Walsh is an exceptionally bright and clever woman. It's how she's able to weasel into the minds of her patients. But the fear of losing her career will keep her from digging around long enough to do the job I've assigned to her."

"She's good, I'll give her that, but do you honestly think she'll dampen Khan's hostility?" he asked. "That thing killed nine of our security officers and three doctors before submitting when you told him we were holding his crew. In fact, forget about his aggressive tendencies – his dedication to his crew is remarkably strong. I doubt even a doctor as talented as Walsh will be able to make him as controllable as you would like when he knows we're holding his crew as ransom."

Marcus sighed, tired of having the same discussion with Doyle. "I hardly expect her to rehabilitate the man and don't rightly give a damn about what she learns from him. The point of the matter is that by being as aggressive and chilly as she is with her patients, she'll give Khan something else to focus his hostility on as opposed to you, me, and others working around him. And if she is capable of dampening his aggressive tendencies and nature, it'll be more easy for me to control him. Either way, we win."

"And if Khan speaks of his crew to Walsh?"

Marcus shrugged, unconcerned. "I'll kill a few from his crew to remind him that I'm in charge, and I'll have Alice die in a wholly coincidental accident for good measure because if she learns that I'm using Khan's people against him after I told her they're dead, the fate of her career will mean little to her." Stepping into the elevator, he added as an afterthought, "But realistically, I'm not worried. Khan cares too much for the well-being of his crew. As I have ordered it, he will not speak a word to her or anyone else not cleared by me of the truth that seventy-two of his crew remain alive and well in stasis."

With all said and done, the two men road the elevator up in silence as their deceptive plot to use the young psychologist slowly took shape.

* * *

_**Review please! Reviews let me know you wish for more!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **_**Wow! I didn't expect to get so many reviews, follows, and favorites on the first chapter. I'm so glad you all are enjoying the story!**_

_**Just wanted to point out that some of the content in this chapter and future chapters regarding Khan's past and the Eugenics Wars are from the **_**Star Trek**_** books **_**"The Eugenics Wars: Vol.1"**_** and **_**"The Eugenics Wars: Vol.2"**_**. I've taken some artistic liberties and gave my own spin on his past and things during that time, but yeah, if you've read them, you might notice a few things from the books. If you have not read the books, you really should read them, they're pretty good. **_

* * *

Coming out of cryosleep had been more confusing, uncomfortable, and disconcerting than Khan could have predicted, and in the confusion that came with regaining his consciousness sooner than the movement of his limbs, his heart rate had climbed drastically to the point where doctors feared he was going into cardiac arrest.

He had not been, and the moment a doctor stuck him in the neck with some medical device he did not recognize, adrenalin flooded his system, responding to the apparent threat, and he sprung from the gurney, snapping the neck of the doctor. In a panic, the other doctors scurried about and tried to detaining even as men with foreign weapons rushed into the medical room. Dispatching of the doctors who saw fit to pin him down, he turned his aggression to the men who proceeded to fire on him with their strange weapons.

Rather than experience the pain of a bullet, a jolt was sent through his system, threatening to send him into unconsciousness, but his superior capabilities and pain tolerance kept him on his feet. Though unsteady, he killed each and every man who dared fire on him before a voice rang out through an unseen speaker, the man belonging to the voice visible through the glass that separated the room.

Khan's first demand had been to see his crew for himself so as to assure himself that the men and women he called family were as well as when he put them in their deep sleep. That was when he learned that seventy-two were alive, well, and frozen, and would be killed should he attempt to harm anyone else and not listen to the man who assumed he was in charge – this Admiral Alexander Marcus of the Federation Starfleet.

Rage made his blood boil, made him grind his teeth as he paced from one side of the glass to the other. Surely he could have shattered it without breaking a sweat or a hitch in his breath, could have strangled the life from the Admiral until he was told where his crew was on a strangled breath, at which point he would snap his neck. But as Khan paced, Marcus explained the situation the Augment was in.

He was in London, the year was 2258, and it was mid-September.

For an ordinary being, the notion of having slept for roughly three-hundred years would have sent their mind spinning, perhaps made them a bit faint, but Khan had processed this easily. He'd expected to be asleep for a long time before finally being awoken, if he was ever brought out of cryostasis at all.

The reason for his awakening was not out of kindness or curiosity, but out of greed – the greed for war. Like so many men and women he knew in the late 20th century, the Admiral desired a war, and the war he wished for was with a savage race of aliens called Klingons who threatened Earth and every other species within the Federation – the Admiral's roundabout way of telling him that they'd advanced into space and discovered intelligent life. Starfleet had been exploring deeper into space for anything that could prepare them for a war, and that was when one of Marcus' teams found the _Botany Bay_. He said that upon discovering in the logs that Khan was among the sleeping crew, he knew that he'd found the key to winning an undeclared war.

In a civilized society, Marcus needed an uncivilized mind. In the midst of pacifists, he needed a warrior.

The notion of being born to follow orders and waking to follow orders yet again did not sit well with Khan, and he was quick to point out that his compliance would not come lightly, if at all, and that the moment the opportunity came he would crush Marcus like an insect beneath his boot.

But the Admiral expected such a reply and informed him that should he not comply, should he somehow cause more trouble than his worth, one by one his crew would be stripped of the little power needed to sustain them and that they would defrost slowly until their bodies could take no more trauma. If, however, Khan did as he was told then the rest of his crew would be woken up properly, at which time Khan and the others would be taken to a world in which they could colonize and call their own, lest they desire to remain on Earth peacefully.

"Eventually" left a foul taste in Khan's mouth, but the reality of the situation left him little choice but to submit – for now. In due time he would find a way to escape his new prison with his crew, but for now he had to allow Marcus to believe that he would be the obedient worker he desired.

His word of compliance meant little to the Admiral, and he said to Khan that a psychologist would be shadowing him during his stay in Section 31. Apparently, this Commander Alice Walsh was to evaluate him, study him, and rehabilitate him so that he would lose his taste for power and violence. It was quite laughable to think that a mere human would be assigned to rehabilitate him when there was not a thing wrong with him or his way of thinking. He was engineered to be perfect, told from infancy that he was perfect, thus he was, and that was not a boast, it was simply a fact.

Realistically, he suspected that while she may perhaps have been assigned to study him, rehabilitation seemed highly unlikely. After all, why would Marcus want to exploit his savage, warrior mind if from the get-go he assigned a psychologist to "fix" his mind? It made no sense to Khan, and thus he was more inclined to believe that there was more to the woman's orders than evaluation and rehabilitation.

Whatever the reason, he wanted to claim that being followed by a psychologist was a waste of his time and would only try his patience, but he kept his mouth shut on the matter in front of Marcus and the few others who knew his identity. Were the fate of his crew not at stake, he would have gladly shared his thoughts on having himself be studied as a lab rat as he once had been as a child and early teen years.

No, Khan would tolerate this Dr. Alice Walsh for the sake of his family, but he would not answer questions to which she had no business of knowing.

And so he sat in his quarters that served as his cell, waiting for the doctor, dressed in dark grey sleep-pants and a black t-shirt as it was still early in the morning – nearly eight o'clock – though he had been awake since five. He required less sleep than a lesser being and was thus only needed four to five hours of sleep at the most, and he spent his waking hours familiarizing himself with the history of the years he slept through, on the new technology he was up against. He was quite amazed by the advancements, but hardly surprised. It was inevitable that humanity would expand throughout the galaxy, that there was life besides those inhabiting Earth. What was a bit shocking was the destruction of the planet Vulcan not but a few months ago, the cause of Marcus' desperate search that led him to Khan's warrior mind.

As vast as the history of the past three hundred years was, as high-tech and complex as the technology was, as diverse as the alien races were, Khan was already fairly caught up with it all, his enhanced mind allowing him to process and store information quicker and more efficiently than any lesser human. In another day, perhaps two of he was feeling off, he'd be up to date as if he grew up in this day and age, and would be ready to perform the duties that he'd been ordered to do by Admiral Marcus.

Sometime later, the console by the door beeped. It was not to notify him that he had a visitor, thus giving him the choice to answer or not, but it was rather to notify him that someone was coming in whether he wished it or not.

The door hissed open but Khan made no move to greet the uninvited guest, didn't even turn his body in their direction. Rather than greet this intruder, he continued to study the PADD he held in his hand with his back to the door, even as the soft smell of lilies reached his senses.

Shortly after the newcomer entered, the door hissed shut and he heard the individual shift ever so slightly with a tired sigh. "Khan, I presume?" She waited a beat, then added, "I'm Dr. Alice Walsh – as I assume you know why I'm here, I won't waste my time explaining my presence."

He said nothing, treating her voice as nothing more than an annoying buzz to be ignored. His attention was better focused on the PADD he was holding anyways.

A second passed before she snorted lightly, walking over to the sink in the small kitchen. "Well, your file failed to mention that you're rude. I'll be sure to add that later," she said in a clipped tone.

Ever so slightly, he inclined his head in her direction.

That wasn't quite what he'd been expecting from a woman who's career dictated she treat her patients at an emotional, personal level. With that tone, it was unlikely she'd have made friends with him were he even the slightest bit open to being treated. As it was, she appeared to be helping herself to a glass of water, digging through a cabinet until she found a glass she liked.

It was enough to make him internally cringe.

He was being held against his will and his crew was held as ransom, but until such a day came where he were let go or got away, this room belonged to _him_, as would the food and drink he would receive by weeks end – give him the comforts of home and he would obey, Marcus seemed to believe. Should she desire the use of anything in his space, she needed to request permission from him. She knew who he was, and yet she dared help herself as if she owned the place?

"Do you mind?" she asked even as she stepped around him with water in one hand and her PADD in the other, taking a seat in one of the chairs opposite of a metal coffee table.

Clearly, whether he minded or not meant little to her if she was just going to do as she pleased either way.

Eying her with a note of disdain, insulted by her lack of respect, he fleetingly noted that she was in fact lovelier than he'd expected.

Perhaps in her late twenties to early thirties at most, she was fairly petite at somewhere around 5'3 of 5'4 with delicate features, lightly tanned skin, long dark blond hair, and deep emerald green eyes. Denying that she was lovely, beautiful even, would be foolish. Despite this, she did nothing to accentuate her natural beauty. If anything, she looked rather disheveled and ready for a day of lounging.

Her long hair was up in a messy bun that appeared to have been put up at the last minute with little care, and opposed to wearing a nice suit or some casual yet professional get-up, she wore a light purple t-shirt and dark grey dress pants that were wrinkled in more than a few places along with scuffed black flats on her feet. There was also not an ounce of makeup on her face. It looked to him as if she made only the slightest attempt to appear professional and succeeded instead of looking bored and tired.

During his stay underground whilst submitting to the program that created him – the Chrysalis Program – he and the other Augments had been visited regularly by various doctors and scientists. All were falsely concerned with his well-being, and all were very well dressed.

This woman was not what he expected, and he was willing to bet that there were more surprises to come.

He was not wrong.

Sipping her water, attention split between him and her PADD, she indicated to the chair opposite of the coffee table. "Please, sit."

He made no move to take a seat, but he did turn his eyes fully on her, frowning ever so slightly. This was his home – he should be the one giving her permission to sit, not the other way around.

Glancing up at him when he failed to speak or move, she sighed in open irritation and made herself comfortable, crossing her ankles. Her eyes focused solely on the PADD now, she said matter-of-factly, "Let me make this as clear as I can, Khan. I'm not here because I have an acute fascination with you, nor am I here to advance my career because as I'm sure you know, to the public you are John Harrison – any breakthrough I make will be known only to myself, you, Admiral Marcus, and anyone else he deems necessary," pausing to read something she found interesting, she continued after a moment, "Am I oblivious to the fact that you're Khan Noonien Singh, the great tyrant of the 20th century? – No. Do I desire to learn more about you? – Yes, I'll admit that I am very curious about you. But until recently, you were assumed dead, and thus I'm quite certain I can wait a few more days or even weeks to learn what I want. In the meantime, answer my questions or don't, it makes no difference to me – I'm here to study you at the request of Admiral Marcus. Thus, as my time is already being wasted by simply being here, you're silence does not waste it further."

It was quite a statement, that was for sure, and it was more than a little surprising. But through his irritation that she was not more respectful – even Marcus showed a small amount of respect – he was mildly amused as he recalled her earlier words.

Lips twitching in the slightest smirk, he asked, "If your time is already wasted, how could the explanation of your presence that you deemed a waste of your time be wasteful at all?"

Looking up at him, she blinked, thinking back, and then conceded a small victory to him with a nod. "A fair point. Now," she started, once again indicating to the chair. "Will you sit, or do you want us both to get a kink in our necks?"

A kink in his neck was unlikely, but he opted to sit anyways.

Making himself comfortable with perfect posture and his arms resting on the armrests, assuming an almost regal stance that came naturally to him, he stared at her and waited.

To her credit, she held his piercing blue eyes for a few seconds before finally admitting defeat by silently looking away to her PADD. Most lesser humans would look away the instant he locked eyes with them. That she wasn't so easily intimidated was commendable.

"You and your crew were found aboard the _Botany Bay_, frozen for what was surely planned to be a long trip. There didn't appear to be signs of force, and given that the ship departed once it was clear that Augments had lost the war, I'm inclined to believe that you all allowed yourselves to enter cryosleep willingly," she said, skimming through her notes. "Care to tell me what your goal was in entering cryosleep?"

Cocking his head fractionally, wondering what it would take to knock this woman off her toes, he ignored her question and asked, "If you are not here for personal gain in regards to your career, or even because of your curiosity, why are you here, doctor?"

Ignoring him pointedly, but shifting slightly, she said as she once again looked at him, "I think you and your crew entered cryosleep in some sleeper ship sent out to God-knows-where because the walls were suddenly closing in on your little empire when we mere humans had enough of your tyranny. Perhaps desperation drew you into space… or fear."

"Fear was not in the equation, and is little more than an illusion created by lesser beings in response to something that they are incapable of overcoming," Khan replied promptly, offended at being accused of being afraid when not once had he felt fear. "Is your reason for being here not your choice?"

She hardly reacted, but she did flinch ever so slightly. "We're not here to talk about me, Khan, or my reasons for being here."

That was answer enough for him, and he smirked. "I assume our host has made a deal with you as well? Something to hold over you so as to keep you in line?"

"Maybe you're just a coward," she commented tightly, desperately trying to ignore his prodding.

The word coward made him want to grind his teeth, the word among the highest of insults. "I am no coward, Dr. Walsh, but you are dodging my question."

"No?" she asked with a small, triumphant smile at finding a nerve, ignoring the last bit. "All of a sudden we humans rose up with enough force to put an end to your rule and the rule of some of your fellow Augments. I imagine this was unexpected and frightening. You knew you couldn't win and couldn't murder everyone in your way, so you and your crew scurried away to a sleeper ship to hide in space where no one would find you. What? Were you afraid of what they'd do if you were found? Suddenly lose your nerve, Khan?"

"Mind what you say, woman," he warned with deceptive calmness.

"Why? Am I close to the truth?"

No, she wasn't even in the same ballpark as to what his true motives for ushering his eighty-four followers into the _Botany Bay _were. But her mere accusation of him being a fearful coward was enough to make his blood boil beneath the calm image he projected.

When he said nothing, she sighed and went to work on her PADD, and she asked causally, "The silent treatment again, is it? Fine – plenty of time for me to get some things done."

His silence wasn't a confirmation of her assumption, but rather a chance for him to form his own opinions on her and get an idea of what she was all about. What he should have done was look her up prior to her arrival, but he hadn't. It was something he'd make sure to do once she left.

She'd admitted her curiosity, so she wasn't entirely as indifferent to who he was as she seemed. And her reaction to his question about what caused her to be wasting her time hit a nerve within her, but she was quick to turn things back on him and away from her, going so far as to purposefully irritated him. Other times he would have called anyone who dared try to engage him in an altercation of any kind a fool looking for death, but he didn't believe this woman to be foolish. She was too calculated in her questioning, and her observations were almost premeditated.

No, she wasn't being entirely foolish. She was following through with some premeditated course of action.

One thing was for certain – she perceived him to be a heartless tyrant who happily murdered those in his way. Since awakening, curiosity led him to read the few documents and reports on himself outside the Chrysalis Program, and he was immensely disappointed by what the various writers had to say about him and his motivations.

They hadn't a clue of what his reasons for killing and ruling were.

Alice likely was basing her treatment method on what she'd read, and that gave him a thought.

What would she do if he threw her for a loop with the truth?

"You want to know why my crew and I were frozen in the _Botany Bay_?" Khan asked, waiting for her to once again look on him with her green eyes. "I set a course for an unknown destination that required us to be put in cryostasis in hopes that things would be better one day for both my family and myself."

She stared at him for a long moment. Then, setting down her water, she asked quietly, "You had family in your crew?"

"My crew _is my family_," he responded tightly, then corrected as an afterthought, "Or at least, they were. I understand that they are dead."

It was a lie he'd been told to uphold with her, and he wondered if she'd offer empty condolences.

Nodding slowly, the false information known to her, she followed through and apologized, "I'm sorry. I had no idea you considered them family."

What struck him was that she sounded sincere, and no deception shown in her eyes. Odd, considering how less than friendly she'd been up until this point.

What more could he learn by revealing bits of the truth?

"We were Augments, superior men and women raised together from infancy in a world filled with lesser beings," he explained evenly. "Many went their separate ways under the belief that they could rule as well as I after years of hiding in the shadows, but those who were wise knew that I had everyone's best interests at heart – for them and the humans."

"You don't consider yourself human, Khan?"

"No, I am an Augment. Better than everyone else," he said. It was fact, not a boast. He had little care for boasting.

She took a moment to process that, tapping her fingers on her thigh in thought. "And you said you had _everyone's _best intentions in mind. Enslaving humans was your idea of a good life for them?"

"There was no in-fighting, no violence lest some outside threat came knocking on my door," he said. "With one rule to follow – my rule – there was peace."

"Peace," she repeated incredulously. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely, you know."

"Only if said power is handled incorrectly," he countered. "Do not presume to know my reasons for ruling as I did or the attitude of those under my rule when you were not born and you're mother and hers were not even thought of."

The woman said nothing, only offered up a thin smile before turning back to her PADD. Perhaps she saw that by arguing with him on a matter that he would offer up nothing else on would do nothing but run them in circles.

It wasn't long before more questions flowed from her mouth, and they were handled by both individuals in much the same manner.

She dodged his questions, and he dodged hers, only answering when he wanted to learn something from her. Alice was smart, however, and caught on quickly to his tactic, thus she began keeping a better hold on her reactions. She was blunt with her opinions on him and freely attempted to antagonize him with words like "coward" and the like. Though she did cause his temper to flare too drastically, he had to reign in his actions and continue to portray a look a calm indifference when in reality he wanted to strangle her, demand that she show him the respect he deserved.

As a lesser being, Alice should mind her tongue and actions.

Even so, she was an intriguing change of pace, a challenge, and Khan was always up for a challenge.

* * *

Roughly an hour passed before Alice returned to her quarters, and promptly after the door hissed shut she fell back against it, releasing a long breath.

_That_ had been the most challenging discussion of her life.

Khan either ignored her or he turned her questions upside down with unexpected answers, asked questions that made her tense. The man was more intuitive than she'd anticipate, nearly knocking her confidence out from under her. She didn't like that he caught onto her and Marcus non-negotiable agreement – her fault, given her comment that being there was nothing more than a waste of her time.

Because reports indicated he was prideful and full of himself, her intention had been to make him believe that she could care less about him, that he wasn't at the center of the universe. By roaming about his place like she owned it, she asserted that she felt she needn't have his permission to do anything, but rather that she was the one in charge. It was something she suspected would anger him or at the least irritate him. And by claiming that she was wasting her time, she hoped to make it appear that she was more indifferent than she was curious.

The slightest twitch of the muscles in his jaw had indicated that she succeeded to some degree, especially where she gave him permission to sit in his own chair.

But then he turned the tables, questioning the truth that lay in her claim of wasted time, as well as question her reasons for being there. Having him catch on that she had something being held over her head wasn't exactly what she'd intended, but his words gave her something to think about.

"_I assume our host has made a deal with you as well? Something to hold over you so as to keep you in line?"_

Marcus had made it sound like he'd come to an agreement with Khan that led to them both satisfied, but with how Khan phrased it was that really the case? Was this supposed deal similar to hers? Had Marcus threatened to snatch something of importance from the former tyrant just as he threatened to end her career?

Shaking her head, Alice tossed her PADD onto the couch and proceeded to pour herself a glass of water, making a mental note to purchase some other drinks and food to fill her refrigerator with later on, as well as some more clothes. It was quite possible that Khan was just trying to get inside her head and confuse her. His reports suggested that he could be quite deceiving.

Still, it was disconcerting to think about, thus was everything else she'd learned.

She had not expected Khan to claim that he considered his crew to be his family. Nothing in what she'd read suggested that he was even capable of understanding the word on a personal level, let alone that he ruled the way he did with the best interests of _everyone _in mind. He clearly believed himself to be better than everyone else alive – he'd said as much – so why claim to care about others he looked down upon? He hadn't seemed to be lying when he made his claims – years of working with so many patients helped her to spot the tells that came with lies. Khan was so good at hiding any reaction, it was hard to figure out if he was truthful or a liar.

Until she learned if the man truly had a heart buried beneath his ruthless, power-hungry nature, she'd tread carefully around the topic of his crew as family. Many wounds she would prod at with her patients, but the topic of family was something she was more sympathetic to. Having lost her parents when she was only seven, she knew all too well how exceedingly painful those wounds could be, and understood that one didn't have to be blood to be considered family, having called one particular family with other foster kids her new family before she was torn away from them.

It was all enough to give her a headache and she removed the two pins from her hair that held it in a lose bun, allowing her long hair to flow down her back before padding over to the couch to read over the notes she'd taken while speaking with Khan.

The various reports and files she had on him handle scratched the surface, she now realized. If she truly wanted to understand the man she was going to have to hang around him for more than an hour each day and would need to shadow him during his work constantly.

With a sigh, she scrolled up the page on her PADD until her eyes landed on his image.

Khan was certainly more interesting than she ever could have imagined, and more challenging. Though Alice wished she'd had a say in the matter, perhaps her time wouldn't be so wasted in learning all she could about the enigma that was Khan Noonien Singh.

* * *

_**Review please! Reviews let me know you wish for more!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_**What I plan to do is have a new chapter posted every Friday or Saturday. If I think that I may be delayed by more than a day, I'll leave note at the bottom of the chapter last posted.**_

_**Also, sometimes chapters will skip ahead days, weeks, or even a month. If I were to write the day by day interactions and whatnot, I think I'd drive you all crazy, not to mention drive myself crazy given that this takes place roughly a little less than a year before the events of the movie.**_

* * *

Essentially living underground was not at all something Alice enjoyed and she went out of her way to go to the surface as often as possible. She'd even bought a painting of the San Francisco bay just to make herself feel more at home.

Only six days had passed since arriving at Section 31 and already she felt like she was going nuts. She wasn't claustrophobic, but she loved the outdoors, thus she often found herself twisting and turning in bed and staring at the painting, longing for windows at the very least. It made her wonder if her goal to become ship Consular was wise if simply being underground for a few days had her longing to go outside.

Tapping her fingers against her coffee mug, she lifted it to her lips and sipped the coffee as she examined her recent notes on Khan whilst wandering around her quarters, dressed and bare foot.

Each day she met him for an hour at least two to three times, and their conversations continued going in circles, though she was learning quite a bit about the man. A lot, actually, and so very little at the same time.

He would be silent and turn her own questions on her, but would then reveal bits and pieces about the Chrysalis Program and the war with more detail than she would have expected. It was hard to conceal her curiosity when he did offer up some of the valuable information, but he'd managed to tick her off by asking if her curiosity had reached its peak after a mere few days together or if her time was still wasted. He certainly knew how to get on her nerves, that was for sure, but his knack for that wasn't what bothered her.

What bothered her was that he told her anything at all.

She frustrated and irritated him, that much was clear by the occasional twitch of his jaw and his forcefully calm tone, but he didn't have to tell her a damn thing, yet he continued to do so. Some might say she was getting to him with her attitude, but she wasn't so sure. It could be that he was lying, or he was trying to throw her off guard with the truth, or some combination of both. Certain things that were truthful were noted in specific reports, but there were other things that were utter hearsay with him being the one saying them. Khan had to be getting something out of his revelations, she just didn't know what.

Sifting her fingers through her hair, Alice looked to her clock and set her PADD down to retrieve her shoes so she could head out to the weapons' lab on another level.

Today was the second day Khan had actually been working on the creation of weapons and she was eager to see how different he'd act when he had work to do. Besides, she was supposed to shadow him everywhere he went, she just chose to let him get acclimated to the lab the day before since he did have a job to do. She didn't want him to get too comfortable, though, before she came at him with more questions and observations.

Checking her reflection one last time in the mirror as she put up her hair, making sure she looked more presentable than she did when she first met Khan, she straightened her dark blue V-neck shirt and smoothed her hands down her black suit pants. She kept her scuffed black flats on more because they were comfortable than professional. Her appearance was a more appropriate mix of casual and professional with a bit of eyeliner and shadow around her green eyes and her hair up in a lose bun, and the only reason she took more care this time with her appearance as oppose to the past few days was simply because she would be seen by others instead of Khan alone. By now it should have been made clear to him that she wasn't going to get dressed up just for him because he was Khan or that her work with him was of great importance.

If anything, she wondered if her improving her appearance a bit for the sake of others as opposed to just for him would cause something in his attitude to shift.

Satisfied with how she looked, Alice retrieved her PADD and fresh brewed coffee and headed out of her quarters.

At the elevator, she stepped inside and selected the level for the weapons research/development, punched in the code Marcus had given her, and sipped her coffee as she went down a few levels.

See as she was going to be shadowing Khan almost everywhere he went, anywhere Khan had access to, she had access to. Under any other circumstances she would not have the clearance to go down to the research labs and whatnot, but because of the unique situation she'd found herself in she was privy to sights that most in her profession would never see.

It made her worry her lip in both anticipation and uncertainty. She was undoubtedly curious about what was being built, but was nervous that she'd see something she wasn't supposed to see.

The elevator pinged softly as its doors opened to a grey room with a glass door at the opposite end. Approaching the single desk beside the door, the security officer looked up.

"Name and rank?" he asked, eyes turning back to the screen in front of him.

"Commander Walsh, Alice M."

The man put her name into the computer, waited a moment, then nodded and stood. "Place your right hand on the scanner to the left of the door," he instructed as he did the same, punching in a code as she did as she was told. "You're working with Harrison, right?"

She nodded. "That's correct."

He wasn't in the loop, she noted, and thus she opted not to say anything about her "work" with Khan.

"Heard the guy's suffering PTSD or something," the officer continued, a man she noticed wore no Starfleet logo on his uniform. "Is that why you're following him around? You are a shrink, aren't you?"

"I'm sure you can understand," she started as her hand was finally scanned. "But I can't discuss matters involving my patient without his consent."

The man sighed, disappointed at not getting anything out of her, and finished up with getting her print processed. When at last both scanners flashed green and the door hissed open, he returned to his desk and said, "Next time you come down, put your hand on the scanner and go on in when it flashes green. Rooms in which you have access to will require your hand-print as well, and should the rooms not recognize your print, return to me and we'll sort out the problem. Should you enter a room you do not have authorization to be in you will be subject to immediate detainment. Understand?"

"Yes, thank you," she said and hurried inside before any more questions about "Harrison" could be thrown her way.

As she walked down the hallway, she noticed various other security officers hanging around without the Starfleet logo on their uniforms and frowned. Were they with Starfleet, or were the private security? They certainly didn't look like they were with Starfleet.

Some people were in uniform and did have the insignia, and others were casually dressed like she was. Obviously there were people within Starfleet stationed in Section 31, but security wise it looked like they were personally hired by Marcus. The thought was more than a little concerning.

What would be the harm in having Starfleet security present?

Walking for a minute or two, getting a feel for the place, she found the door to the specific room for research/development where Khan would be working during his stay in Section 31, and pressed her hand to the scanner. It took longer than she would have liked for it to flash green, but eventually it did and she stepped inside.

The white lab was buzzing with activity and was much larger than she'd expected, looking about the size of a small warehouse to which the door opened to a catwalk that oversaw everything that was going on. To the right were technicians, scientists, and engineers working on research, going over various ideas and creating holographic projections of various forms of weaponry, while to the left others were working on the preliminary development of said weapons. There were other parts of the floor that she could not see and other rooms within the large lab, and individuals came to and from the rooms almost constantly, some with parts and others with PADDs, all going about their assigned jobs.

As she walked at a slow pace, she knew that were her father still alive he would be quite jealous of what all she was seeing, having been a weapons specialist in Starfleet before his and her mother's untimely death. He would have loved to be a part of all this.

Amongst the sea of people in white lab coats, one man in a black long-sleeved shirt caught her eye and she came to a stop midway on the catwalk. Rather than call out or continue down to the floor, she leaned on her forearms against the railing and took a moment to watch Khan converse with a few people around a transparent touch-screen board.

Every so often, one of the individuals would point to the screen and say something, and Khan would reply and indicate to a few things on the board as he answered the question or explained further. Though she couldn't hear what was being said, he appeared to be working well with the people he was working with.

While he was known through the various data she had to be a loner, he could work with others without too much conflict as far as she could tell, which was something she made a quick note of in her PADD. He was proud and believed himself to be better, but not to the extent where he refused to work with others to get something done.

She finished typing up the note then turned her eyes back to Khan and the others below. Content to just observe for a time or until she was noticed, she drank her coffee as she leaned on her forearms.

One of the people below, a woman with deep auburn hair, gave Khan a questioning look and crossed her arms and cocked her hip before saying something that made the man visibly tense just fractionally.

A normal reaction for most who became irritated, but a significant response in Alice's eyes.

Whenever Alice irritated him, the only visible response would be his jaw muscles tightening ever so slightly or him inhaling a long breath to gather himself. This was different. This woman said something that pushed him farther than Alice had attempted to go as of yet. It was more than a little irritating, even angering, that someone else had gotten that kind of reaction out of him.

Khan, after easing his posture seconds later, half turned to the woman and said something whilst looking her in the eye. The woman visibly gulped at whatever he said and licked her lips before nodding grudgingly in agreement with him, moving to go about doing some unknown task.

The sight was enough to make Alice smile, her irritation fading into amused pride.

Khan was an exceptionally intimidating man, but she hadn't let him turn her into the equivalent of a skittish puppy fearful of angering the person looming above her, not like the auburn woman below. Alice, at least, had her back bone intact when dealing with Khan.

One by one, each scientist and engineer began going the separate ways, the plan now made clear, and eventually only Khan remained by the board.

As he dragged things here and canceled out things there with the stylus he held in his hand, he asked, voice raised just enough to be heard up on the high catwalk, "Have you learned anything from your observations, doctor?"

Smirking, she called back, "And here I was hoping to sneak up on you."

"You not nearly as apt in stealth as you think," he replied, and she detected the hint of a smile in his voice. "So, have you made any new observations?"

"A few, actually," she replied as she walked to the staircase, making no effort to share her findings with him.

He waited a second longer for her reply, back still to her, before getting back to work, shaking his head slightly at her.

Always used to receiving answers then and there lest the question be rhetorical, the man was.

Setting her coffee down on a desk with another cup of coffee, she stepped over to a console to see what it was he and the others were working on. There was a rough composite sketch of what appeared to be a missile or torpedo of some kind. While she wasn't an expert on weapons on any kind, she had a curiosity for what had interested her father so much and it didn't look like anything she'd ever seen before.

Seeing another sketch behind the one on the screen, she pressed her fingers to it and dragged the one of the torpedo out of the way, revealing the sketch of a ship under the title SS _Vengeance_.

Before she could get too good of a look at the design, Khan appeared beside her and brought up a series of documents in its place.

"Something you don't want me to see?" she asked, leaning on her hip against the console.

"Something _Marcus _would not want you to see," Khan corrected coolly, jotting down some notes and a series of equations that looked like nothing more than Greek to her.

Wisely, she did not question him further on either the torpedo or the ship, the designs to new that they hadn't even been made into holographic projections yet for better reference. If Marcus wouldn't want her looking at either thing too closely, she'd keep her eyes off them and her nose out of it, despite her curiosity.

Khan transferred the notes he'd jotted down to the PADD he held before turning to head back to the board, but not before he finally looked to her, pausing briefly as if just noticing that her appearance wasn't as drab as it usually was.

He said nothing, only studied her in a manner similar to how she studied him, and then went back to business.

Crossing her arms in mock offense, she asked in a sweet voice, "What? Not a kind word for a pretty girl?"

"When I find one," he started, inclining his head to look her in the eyes. "I will happily compliment her on her appearance."

Alice gaped at him, now truly offended.

She wasn't a vain woman and her previous comment had been little more than a joke, but his retort stung. What was worse was she couldn't tell if he was lying to get a reaction out of her or quite truthful with his reply, having not yet discovered his tell, and she had to fight the overwhelming urge inspect her hair or check her makeup.

Smirking at her, he turned back to his work.

"Nothing in your history mentions a woman of any kind," she commented tightly, setting her PADD down and crossing her arms. "I believe I understand why that is."

"By all means, enlighten me," he insisted, sounding already bored with the topic.

"Not a single woman could stand your behavior, let alone tolerate you when there are better men out there."

The accusation that anyone could be better than him made him hesitate in his work and look back at her. "Better?" he repeated tightly.

"Yes," she confirmed with a nod, forcing herself not to break eye contact with him. But the look he was giving her made her nervous, and she knew that by claiming others were better she was treading on dangerous water. "A better man wouldn't rudely put down a woman's appearance and wouldn't openly intimidate a woman, such as you did with that redhead a moment ago. A real man would show a woman respect."

He snorted. "Respect is something only my kind deserves – lesser beings must earn it."

"Some might consider you to be a lesser being who must earn respect," she ventured cautiously. "I certainly do."

That struck a nerve quite sharply and he rounded on her, advancing until he was not but a foot in front of her, and she couldn't keep from backing up against the console behind her, desperate for more space between him and her.

It was the first time she'd made such an insulting accusation, the first time she pushed so far, and she purposefully did it at a point and time where she was not alone with Khan. If his control snapped, she damn well did not want to be alone with him. Just in case, she wanted some back up in the vicinity.

"And how do I qualify as a lesser being, _doctor_?" he demanded, tone calm when she knew he was anything but.

Forcing herself not to swallow nervously and to hold eye contact, she explained, hating how her voice quivered, "You're genetically superior, but that doesn't make you better, not in my book. You're rude, prideful, power-hungry, and quite full of yourself. Granted I probably just described more than a few other _normal _men I know, but they don't go around murdering people simply because they're in the way, or declare themselves ruler of a kingdom in which the citizens are little more than slaves." His jaw muscles twitched, his posture tense with anger, and she continued jabbing at the nerve she'd found. "People who get in your way become ghosts, and when things get too tough you gather your people and crawl into a hole to hide. You, Khan, are heartless tyrant who can't stand to not be in control all the time, and you turn coward when faced with the consequences of your actions. That makes you a lesser being in my eyes, and until the day comes where you prove otherwise, you will continue to be such a man to me."

He looked damn ready to strike her for her words, ready to put her in her place violently, but instead he took one more step towards her, closing the gap, and braced one hand beside her on the console and with his other he reached behind her for his stylus, effectively boxing her in.

Leaning in, he whispered harshly in her ear, "A tyrant and a murderer, I may be, but I've not caused a man to commit suicide by daring him to do so."

Her throat constricted painfully and she ground her teeth, wanting to wipe the smug look off his face when he leaned back just enough to look down on her as she kept her eyes locked on the collar of his black shirt. He had to be only a few inches from her, close enough for her to feel his breath as well as the heat emitting from him, and it made her acutely uncomfortable because she had nowhere to run if he suddenly decided to snap her neck.

Then again, why kill her when he found such a sensitive topic that could so easily wound her?

"Lieutenant Paul O'Connor – he was the man you were treating for severe depression and survivor's guilt," he stated, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a few security officers had taken post around them. It was more likely that he knew and just didn't care. "Here you were, a promising psychologist with a controversial method of treatment that led to many patients turning their lives around, and yet you missed all the signs indicating to suicide and dared him to go ahead and do so when he became angry with you and threatened to shoot himself."

"How did you learn that?" she demanded tightly, voice strained with both anger and guilt.

That was not public knowledge.

"Did you believe he was bluffing? Trying to make you cease your aggressive, cruel treatment of him?" he continued. Shaking his head in what might be seen as disappointment or even disgust, he added bitterly, "You think me to be cruel and harsh in the treatment of those I ruled over? I suggest you remove yourself from your pedestal, Alice. When a man needed your help, you failed him and thus he took you on your word and killed himself in front of you. Call me a lesser being all you want, but it means little coming from _you_."

Her heart thudded painfully in her chest and tears stung her eyes, but she refused to cry, refused to give him the pleasure of seeing her break.

"If it means little coming from me, Khan," she started, voice little more than a challenging whisper as she stood a little straighter, tilting her head back to meet his cold blue eyes with her challenging green ones. "Why bother attempt to put me in my place?"

That was not the reply Khan had been hoping for and his smirk faded as his lips set into a thin line.

Inhaling deeply, hold tight on the stylus, he at last backed away from her, giving her his back as he got back to work in undoubtedly a foul mood.

She quickly picked up her coffee from the desk and downed it before stepping over to one of the security officers who saw fit not to step in at all, and asked shakily, "Any place I can get a refill?"

"Third door on your right," he replied, indicating behind him.

She didn't bother to thank him as she hurried off to refill her cup, looking for any excuse to get away from Khan for a moment, just as he'd distanced himself from her. The moment she entered the break room and saw that she was alone, she leaned back heavily against the door and brought her hand to her mouth. Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced the tears back as images of O'Connor killing himself flashed through her mind, his words and her taunts echoing in her ears.

Bringing that up was uncalled for and something she hadn't been prepared for. What was so much worse was that she found some truth in his words. She judged him and called him heartless in regards to how he treated people, and yet she treated her patients coldly with the desire to anger and break them until they finally opened themselves to her.

They were nothing alike, but both were flawed, she could admit that much. It didn't mean that her pride wasn't bruised.

Still, she too had gotten to him, evoking such a reaction from him, and that was progress. But she hadn't exactly been lying when she taunted him. Did she thinking he was heartless? – no, not really, not after he told her that he considered his crew to be family. But she didn't think of him as better than others, let alone to be a good man.

For her to see him as anything but a murderous tyrant, he had to prove himself to her.

* * *

Khan's blood boiled beneath the surface and he snapped the stylus between his fingers as easily as if it were a twig, wishing he could take his anger out on something more substantial.

What right did that woman have to call him a lesser being? To claim that others were better than him?

It was an outrageously false claim as he had been created to be better, and yet she'd been quite truthful for the most part in her claim that she did not see him as such. He'd looked to throw her off by bringing up her painful past and had been pleased when he noted tears in the corners of her eyes.

Following their first session, he'd found all the information he could on Alice Walsh and managed to get his hands on private records – not too difficult a feat for someone who knew what they were doing – and discovered that she'd gotten a man killed by pushing him to suicide. In her report, she admitted to telling him to go ahead and kill himself if he thought it would make things better when he threatened to do so, seemingly fed up with her attitude, to which he'd done just that.

Shortly after, her career was put on hold, and it wasn't long before she ended up in Section 31.

Though he couldn't be sure, Khan suspected that Marcus was using that incident as leverage over Alice.

It seemed so pathetic that the woman was so concerned with losing her career. She was smart and surely could excel in some other field. If that was what Marcus was holding over her, what made her career so important?

His jibe at her failure should have made her snap or break such as he'd intended, but instead she turned around and demanded why he bother attempt to put her down if what she had to say meant so little to him.

That pissed him off more than he cared to admit, knowing that she wasn't backing down easily, wasn't intimidated as easily as others. But beneath the anger, her behavior was intriguing. While he despised her, she was a fascinating individual. She was certainly unlike other women he'd encountered.

While he sought women for pleasure during his reign, never had he desired for companionship. No woman caught his interest, and no woman was unique or good enough for him. Unlike his tyrant brothers, he didn't want some woman following him around, waiting on him hand and foot out of fear or intimidation.

A woman like that could become boring rather fast.

But then again, love was a childish fantasy in which humans searched for in a companion. Love was for fools who desired to have a vulnerability to be exploited. Love was not something he desired whatsoever, and many women he'd come across during the Eugenics War had been searching for a man with who to love and be loved by.

The women he knew were fragile, unable to stand up to him and look him in the eye.

Alice was the exact opposite of those women.

He didn't like her very much, couldn't even say that he enjoyed her company, be through his anger and irritation, he did in fact respect her strength. She could be wounded, her resolve cracked, but as of yet she didn't break.

He was curious of how far she could be pushed.

"Now that we've gotten our childish banter out of the way," Alice began as she returned with her filled coffee cup in hand, her voice still unsteady but stronger than when she had left. "I have a few things I would like to discuss with you."

"Of course you do," he noted dryly, glancing over at her, taking note that her eyes were a little bloodshot and her face flushed.

It was unclear if she'd been crying or not, but she'd been hurt by his words, which had been his intention. She held herself too high and couldn't claim that he was a lesser being when she herself was not the best humanity had to offer.

Still, he had not intended to get in such a discussion with her all at once, and had certainly not expect his retort about her looks to spark such a harsh confrontation. His insinuation that she wasn't attractive had been entirely false and nothing more than a lie meant to irritate her. It was his way of reacting to the noticable change in her appearance. During their previous meetings, she looked as if she had roled from her bed mere minutes before coming to him, yet now, in the presence of others, she chose to look presentable?

It was because he was surprised and insulted that he'd made the offhanded comment, and for her to round on him with a quick retort of her own had caught him further off guard.

Khan would not apologize for what he'd said, just as he didn't expect her to apologize.

They were both proud, both testing each other, and neither was prepared to admit defeat by apologizing.

For now, Khan would play this game with Alice, and he was eager to see who would win in the end.

* * *

_**Review please! Reviews let me know that you wish for more!**_

**_Basically, I'm having Alice be angered and flustered that Khan can so easily get under her skin, while Khan is frustrated and intrigued that she can get under his. Neither are accustomed to being challenged, and that's how I'm having them see each other right now - as a challange._**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **_**I'm still amazed that this fic has gotten over 100 reviews! Seriously, I thought it was going to take… Well, more than three chapters to reach that many! I'm so happy you all are enjoying this!**_

_**Also, I will be explaining why Alice's career is so important to her in a later chapter. I'm building up to that seeing as that will be a fundamental conversation between her and Khan.**_

_**Oh, by the way, I could use some help with something, though its rather unrelated to this fic...**_

_**If you're familiar with the BBC series **_**"Sherlock"**_**, I'm thinking about writing a Sherlock/OC fanfic but would like to have some opinions on the matter before I dedicate myself on writing another complicated character (Sherlock makes Khan seem perfectly sane!). If you're interested in hearing the two ideas I have in mind and would like to offer your input, PM me or leave a review and I'll PM you. **_

* * *

Khan had grown so used to Alice coming and going from his little cell over the past handful of weeks that five minutes prior to eight-in-the-morning he'd made sure to set out a glass of water for her on the coffee table. It was not out of the kindness of his heart, but rather to keep her from digging through the two cabinets for a glass like she owned the place, something that still irked him to no end. She still did whatever she wished in his residence, but by setting the glass out – as pathetic as it was – he got some scant amount of control back.

But unlike all the other days she came to have their morning session, she was late.

Alice was typically punctual, often arriving a few minutes early, but it was already eight-thirteen in the morning and she'd yet to make a single appearance. It wasn't normal, and Khan did not like the break from routine. He had work to do, just as she did, and he didn't want to waste time standing around.

Diverting his attention to the PADD he'd set on the counter in the pathetic kitchen, he picked it up and leaned back against the counter to study it.

The USS _Vengeance_ was still in the early stages of development in which Khan was still working out the kinks and cyphering through how things would work, but Marcus was pleased with what little Khan had shown and described to him that it was already being built in secret behind Jupiter. The admiral's immeasurable desire to see Starfleet militarized would be his downfall just as it would be Khan's salvation.

Because Marcus was so focused on seeing the ship be built he paid little attention to the highly specific details that were going into the torpedoes Khan was also working on. All Marcus was aware of was that the torpedoes would be undetectable by Klingon forces and thus its design needed to be incredibly specific, but that the main focus was obviously on the ship. By shifting the focus to the _Vengeance_, Khan could work on the torpedoes with little scrutiny, making it easier for him to work on getting his family to safety.

Unfortunately, creating the torpedoes would be more difficult than his work on the ship. As odd as it was, designing a monstrosity of a ship was by far simpler than creating fully functional torpedoes that could safely house his sleeping crew even though he could work on the torpedoes himself, could see for himself exactly what was going on. If he didn't design the weapons just right then he would get his whole crew killed, and if he misinterpreted the size of the capsules housing the others he would be hard-pressed to succeed in getting them out of this prison they'd all found themselves in. After all, how could he get them out if the capsules would not fit in the torpedoes or if they raddled around dangerously?

But then he still had to have the _Vengeance_ complete so that he and his followers would have a place to retreat to because he certainly did not plan to allow Marcus to keep a hold on his creation. Perhaps once they were all free they could find a world to colonize, a place to start over where they wouldn't be condemned for doing what they were created to do.

There were so many things he needed to get done and the sooner he started the real work the better he and his crew would be.

For starters, he needed the specifications of the cryotube so as to make the torpedoes as precise as possible, and then he needed a way to actually get his crew into the weapons. With how the security officers constantly watched him like a hawk, putting them in the torpedoes would be a challenge all on its own. Once he figured that out, he needed to devise a plan of attack on Marcus himself – he couldn't let that bastard remain breathing for the crime of holding his family hostage in stasis and forcing him to do his dirty work. What he needed was a place off site where he could work out his revenge on the man because he couldn't muddle his thoughts with various forms of murder and revenge when he had to get his people to safety first.

As always, family came first. Family was the one constant in his life since birth that would never change.

However, to do it all, to save them, he was going to need assistance on the inside, someone who could venture around without drawing unnecessary attention. The security officers came to mind – they were private security and thus they would work for whoever offered a better deal and such. But those men and women couldn't be trusted when anyone who offered something better could make them switch sides, not to mention they all seemed genuinely loyal to Marcus, reminding him on occasion not to wrong the admiral. The engineers, researchers, and whatnot certainly would not help him when it was clear they put their work above all else and did not like him in the slightest. There was, however, that auburn haired woman – a weapon's specialist named Rebecca Donavon – who while genuinely intimidated and wary of him was also seemingly infatuated, perhaps drawn to dangerous men. She was the farthest thing from help that there was – he couldn't have some skittish young woman looking for approval and some sort of relationship following him around.

He did not desire her help or the help of any of the other longtime personnel.

In Section 31, there was only one person with whom Khan thought could help him.

Dr. Alice Walsh was not in the secret facility by choice, but rather by force, that much was obvious but how she dodged his questions as to why she was there and her reaction to his speculation on whether or not Marcus was dangling something in front of her to keep her in line. She was a career woman and her career was everything to her – no one would assume a controversial method of treatment and make it work all but one time if they were not serious about their occupation – but there was the possibility of a shift in loyalty in the near future.

Starfleet was virtually throwing her under the bus for committing such a tragic mistake that saw to the death of a patient. It was terrible, yes, and worthy of a suspension of some kind, maybe a demotion, but the reports he'd hacked into suggested that she was to be thrown out of Starfleet altogether, and now Marcus was forcing her to work in Section 31 and the case involving the dead lieutenant was put on hold pending further investigation.

Starfleet, it seemed, was turning its back on a woman dedicated to the uniform because they did not want to be associated with a woman who talked a man into killing himself when she had the best intentions. That was bound to make her relationship with Starfleet a bit prickly, and Khan could use that to his advantage if he played his cards carefully, though the thought of eventually asking Alice for help left a foul taste in his mouth.

She was a talented, bright, attractive, and intriguing woman who was a challenge he never thought he'd find, but she infuriated him to no end. No woman in his past was like her, and she both alluring and tempting, the game of wills she'd initiated one he nearly enjoyed playing, and that made her a thorn in his side. When he tried to get things done or had things on his mind that needed to be sorted out, there she was, questioning him about his past, motives, life, and whatever else crossed her mind, and so help him if she didn't get to him quite often. She enjoyed challenging him and looked to piss him off when she had to know it was bad for her health. Most would call her insane for doing so. More than once they came within inches of each other, both daring the other to back down first. He wanted to back down so he could get back to work, but he never did, too proud to do so. She would be quite intimidate by his proximity, scared even, but she never backed down either. Neither backed down willingly, but were forced to by the question of some scientist or guard, or the real need to get back to work.

To let Alice in on his plans and work with her was not something Khan looked forward to.

Like it or not, Alice might be the only person he could convince to aid him in time. If he could alter her view of Starfleet into something ugly, make her see the terrible truth that she was nothing more than a pawn to them, he could win her over to his side – so long as she didn't realize that she was little more than a pawn to him as well.

Checking the time, he sighed when he saw that six minutes had passed.

What was it that had caused her to be late?

And then, relieving him of his frustration, the door beep and then hissed opened, revealing the woman who was more than a little late.

Looking towards her, Khan was a bit taken aback by her appearance.

Alice was dressed in her formal grey uniform, not a single wrinkle or crease marring her jacket and short skirt. Her hat was tucked safely under her arm and her long blond hair was up in a tight bun low on her head, making her look so incredibly professional when combined with her neat makeup.

She wore it quite well, the very image Starfleet sought to portray with her near perfect posture.

It was the most put together he'd ever seen her, and he knew that she had not dressed up for him alone.

"I assume you will not be spending your day shadowing me," he observed, minimizing the information on his PADD.

Setting her hat on the coffee table, picking up the water he'd set out for her, she confirmed his assumption with a nod. "Admiral Marcus has decided that I am to have a formal meeting with him and Commander Dalton once a month regarding my progress with you. Apparently, he requires more than my weekly report."

The tone was laced with irritation that she didn't bother masking, and that suggested that she would rather be heading anywhere but there, as did her heavy sigh as she sat down in the chair she seemed to have claimed as her own upon their first meeting.

Truthfully, he couldn't exactly blame her for not looking forward to a meeting with the admiral. Whenever he learned that he would be meeting with him or was randomly approached by the man, Khan internally cringed, detesting the man's very presence because he was the gunman holding his people hostage. When he learned that Marcus would be leaving for San Francisco for some time tomorrow he was more than a little relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with him face to face for at least a while, even though he'd have the sniveling weasel known as Commander Dalton to deal with instead.

No, on this matter, Khan sympathized with the doctor on meeting with Marcus.

"And what will you say of me in this meeting?" he asked casually, setting the PADD down in its usual spot on the counter.

"That you're rude and egotistic," she said matter-of-factly with little hesitation, glancing up at him as she sipped her water.

He said nothing, only waited for the real answer. He'd come to realize that when she spoke too quickly following his questions, accompanied by a quickly look to him for his reaction, that she was testing him. They were learning more and more about each other each and every day.

After a moment's pause, she set her water aside and scanned over the notes on her PADD. "I plan to tell him that while you expect things to be done your way, you do work rather well with others, and that this is likely what aided you in becoming the so-called greatest tyrant of the 20th century. If there are any redeeming qualities about you, that is among them, but your devotion to your deceased crew is at the top of the list."

He tensed at the mention of his people. "They're dead," he lied convincingly, looking her in the eye. "My dedication to them is over."

"Maybe, but it was once stronger than any other bond, wasn't it?" she questioned. "With that in mind, clearly you have the capacity to care about others and the ability to become a member of this society if you can work with others to some degree. However," she sighed and sat back to look on him as he took a seat opposite of her. "You're vocal about your belief that you are better than everyone and aren't afraid to put someone down harshly, nor are you opposed to killing those you believe to be less than superior and against you. Plainly put, if it's not your way, it's the highway, and that highway leads to the individual or group being killed."

"Something you could have learned from looking into my history."

"I wasn't finished," she stated, crossing her ankles. "While it is painfully obvious that you are in fact a psychopath, I do believe that given time and the right motivation we wouldn't have to worry about you trying to reclaim your crown, so to speak."

He cocked his head fractionally, openly curious about how she'd drawn that conclusion. "And what, Dr. Walsh, makes you believe that?"

"Whenever I challenge your methods of ruling, you always tell me that what you did was in the best interest of not only your people, but of everyone, both the superior and the lesser beings. Why you care, you haven't told me, but I think that something happened to make you care."

He worked not to ground his teeth, not comfortable with how close she was to was coming to the reality of why he was the man he was.

"Maybe you witnessed some tragedy, maybe the death of a confidant who wasn't like you," she continued, noticing the slight change in his demeanor. "You're methods were flawed and whether you believe it or not it resulted in what was essentially the enslavement of thousands of humans, but unlike other Augmented tyrants you sought to keep _everyone_ safe in your own way." Tapping her blunt fingernails against the back of her PADD, she paused, giving her words a moment to sink in. "Want to tell me what exactly happened to make you care, Khan?"

The composure and indifference Khan sought to project so skillfully clashed with the current of emotions raging from within.

He recalled all too clearly the memories of the handful of years following his and his fellows' escape from the underground facility in India, recalled vividly the violence and crime he'd witnessed while trying to get by in dirty streets whilst his brothers and sisters scattered to find a life elsewhere, though a few didn't stray too far from him. He'd witness murder, robbery, and cruelty at its core from both the natives of India as well as foreigners. The instructors within the underground facility had taught him and the others everything there was to know about everything in the world, but nothing could compare to seeing the chaos the world was in for himself, and such acts of cruelty opened his eyes to why he was truly created.

Violence knew no bounds, and if there was to be peace, the world required a firm hand.

Years after his escape while he was in his early twenties, Khan was approached by Gary Seven, a strange man with stranger technology. Seven knew what Khan was and knew of the Chrysalis Program, and desired Khan's help in "saving the world from itself". It seemed that Khan's desire to end violence and war was finally within reach. Unfortunately, the two men had an entirely different idea of how the world should be handled.

Seven sought to stop things like nuclear attacks, assassinations, and other forms of violence from behind the scenes, to even allow governments to sort things out for themselves in hopes that they'd make the right choice. Seven's mission, in his words, was to ensure that man did not destroy themselves with nuclear warfare, but not to interfere. As far as Seven was concerned, they could not openly intervene with the rulings and ideals of various countries, something Khan viewed as a weakness.

And thus he broke away from his mentor a few years later and began to gather his fellow Augments, and by 1992, now in his early thirties, he had seized control of nearly forty nations and held his reign for four years.

Unlike Seven, Khan went on the offensive against violence and cruelty. Only with one rule to follow, _his rule_, could there be peace. There would be no murder, no violence, only peace permitted his subjects followed his rule, though some did turn away to try to rule on their own.

It was not one act that caused him to care, it was many acts committed by many cruel people.

Noticing that Alice was waiting for an answer, he debated on whether or not he should reply or not. The truth was not something he desired to tell her, but silence would only irritate her, and her reaction to being irritated would be to annoy him in return.

Something had to be said on his part, but what?

"Look to your history books," Khan instructed coolly. "Look to the wars and the turmoil of the late 20th century, and tell me why I sought to bring everyone under one rule."

"I know Earth's history – people were free, and you turned to villainy and enslaved and murdered hundreds when you could have done so much good with the way you'd been created – you had the potential to be a hero among men. Instead, you essentially started the Eugenics War."

"A hero among men," he repeated, amused as the hint of a smirk tugged at his lips. "In such a time as the one I came from, the only way to stop villainy was to become a villain yourself – a better villain."

She stared at him, expression torn between disgust, frustration, and curiosity. "You openly call yourself a villain, and yet you wanted to protect these people you tormented. Sounds to me like you were trying to be their salvation, when in reality you were everyone's damnation."

He sighed, tired of going in circles with her. "I have no qualms with who I am, Walsh, nor do I regret the things that I have done because I did it for the greater good of my people and the humans. Was there violence in the region that I ruled?"

She said nothing, only pursed her lips.

"Precisely." Shaking his head fractionally, he added wearily, "You may not approve of my methods, but they worked."

She glanced away, thinking, searching her brain for a new question perhaps. "Did they? Look at what happened – you're people are dead and you're here, alone."

His eyes narrowed, studying her as she studied him. "You are here alone as well because your own methods were seen as flawed by others."

"You saying we're alike?" she asked, smirking behind her irritation. "That we are both flawed individuals stuck underground?"

"We are hardly alike," he scoffed. "I am merely saying that you should hold your tongue when speaking of myself as less than you because if you are right about me, then you are in league with me seeing as Starfleet has turned their backs on you just as those who created me turned their backs on me and my people."

She straightened, tensing noticeably. "Starfleet hasn't turned its back on me."

"Hasn't it?" Now was the perfect time to begin planting the seeds of doubt within her mind, and he continued, "When you did what they wished and did your job well, they were proud to have you wear the uniform. They even sent patients your way, such as Lieutenant O'Connor."

"How'd you know they sent him to me?" she demanded, a curious edge to her voice.

"I read it in the file you had on O'Connor," he replied. "The firewalls protecting private information are just as pitiful now as they were in the past, and because of that I know that your hand in the lieutenant's death has earned you a black mark. You've stained your uniform, and Starfleet doesn't want that stain to be seen, thus they plan to be rid of you… unless you cooperate with Admiral Marcus and try to rehabilitate me. That is why you're here, correct? Is your career being held hostage by Marcus so as to get you to do what he wants?"

Silence followed and he knew that she was considering his words, that they'd hit a nerve. It was as far as he would push on the matter for now if only to give her something to think about and allow for the doubt to take hold.

Licking her lips and shifting in her seat, she looked around his quarters and frowned, but not from what he'd said, by what she was seeing. He owned nothing for her to look at, so what caught her attention was a mystery.

She didn't leave him in the dark for long. "When are you going to give the place a personal touch?"

He blinked. "Pardon?"

"I know you aren't permitted to venture to the surface, but people come and go with food and drinks for you so that you're well stocked," she explained. Shrugging, she asked, "Why not ask them to get something to make this place less… cold and more comfortable?"

For a moment he only stared at her, and then he just shook his head and chuckled dryly. "And what would make you believe Marcus, Doyle, and anyone else would care about my comfort?" Extending his arms to the cramped quarters, he added, "I have a bed that's little more than a cot in plain view of where you are sitting, and the only piece of privacy I get is in the poor excuse of a bathroom where I've yet to find a camera or listening device, all of which are scatter everywhere else in my quarters." Amusement towards her question fading as his own words reminded him of what little freedom he had thanks to Marcus, he sighed, "I assure you that any request for worldly possessions would fall and deaf ears. Besides, I doubt this new time has anything to offer that would best what I took pleasure in before."

"What did you enjoy way back when, Khan?" she asked with genuine curiosity. "Music? Radio shows? Books?"

He didn't intend to answer her, had no reason to reveal anything personal about himself, but he replied anyways, "Music. I enjoyed listening to music. Judging by the music Dr. Donavon listens to as she works I doubt any form of music would entertain me."

She nodded more to herself, processing that bit of information before filing it away in her mind. But she didn't jot it down on her PADD, something that struck him as odd. Why ask if she didn't intend to make a note of it?

"Well, since you have no interest in modern music, you shouldn't feel like you are missing out on anything as I am going clubbing later tonight," she announced, drinking her water.

"Clubbing?" he repeated, not expecting her to say that, let alone be the kind of woman to go to clubs.

"My friend Carol is also in Starfleet and is stationed here in London, but she only just returned after doing some work in San Francisco," she explained. "We're getting together at the club to catch up. I only bring it up because you should know that our evening session will be held two hours earlier to give me proper time to get ready to head out."

Carol – Khan made certain that he would look up any Carol in Alice's history later on. As for her going out, that irked him more than a little. Clubbing was too public, not something he would ever desire to do, but he longed to breathe some fresh air for once, air that hadn't been cycled through vents.

Alice was being forced to do work for Marcus, but she was permitted to come and go when not busy. If he were to be envious about anything, it was the small freedom she had that allowed her to see the sky, something a lot of people took for granted.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, noticing a change in his demeanor yet again, studying him closely, but she said nothing about it and continued on with their session.

* * *

Marcus had to admit, he was thoroughly impressed with Alice's capability to work with Khan for so long without going mad from intimidation and fear. She didn't seem to be a meek woman, but from what he'd gathered from his private security Khan had gotten in her face a few times and looked on the boarder of striking her or choking the life out of her before something forced the two apart. That being said, apparently there was a betting pool going on as to how long it would take for Alice to lose it and slap "Harrison" across the face due to his constant rudeness towards her.

They were both at each other's throats, and that was exactly what Marcus had intended. Since bringing Alice into the picture, Khan's hostility had become focused more on her as opposed to Marcus, Doyle, or anyone else working in Section 31. The two despised each other from the sound of it and focused on tormenting the other, but they were both still capable of doing their assigned jobs – he was more concerned about Khan being able to do his job than Alice doing hers.

Turning his grey eyes up from Alice's PADD regarding Khan that she'd handed to him to study as she spoke her piece, he noticed that she looked a tad uneasy, dragging the blunt nail of her index finger over her thumb, seemingly lost in her thoughts and uncomfortable in her surroundings. She had come straight from a session with Khan, leaving him to suspect that the two had gotten into an argument of some kind or something – he'd check the security feed from the cameras in Khan's cell later to see and hear what went on for himself.

"I'm impressed," Marcus said after a few minutes of silence, handing the PADD back to her, which she gratefully accepted. "I wasn't sure you'd be able to learn so much from our guest in only a month, to be perfectly honest with you."

"I have a way with people," she stated, sitting a little straighter but still uneasy as she gripped her PADD.

He smirked. "I don't doubt that."

"Have you run into any trouble with others asking questions about Khan?" asked Doyle, staring at her through judgmental brown eyes.

Marcus sighed.

His young friend still questioned Alice being brought in to work so closely with Khan, not believing it to be a wise idea.

"A few people have asked me about, _Harrison_," she admitted. "But no one seems to be aware that he's anything but Agent John Harrison. Most believe I'm following him around because he has PTSD. No one is aware that he's Khan, and my answer to their questions is always the same."

"And that is?"

"That I can't discuss my patient without his consent."

Marcus was pleased by her answer, but Doyle wasn't finished yet.

"And do you plan to speak of any of this to Carol?" Doyle asked, eying her sharply, a smirk playing at his thin lips. "You do plan to go out with her this evening, don't you?"

At that, Marcus frowned.

He wasn't aware that Carol and Alice had contacted each other recently, though he really shouldn't be surprised since the two had been friends since their first year in Starfleet. However, Doyle's concern was warranted this time, because from what Carol had told him in the past, before he practically shunned her for looking too closely into the torpedoes being developed a few days earlier, both she and Alice had few secrets from each other.

Shifting in her seat, Alice asked, "How'd you know that Carol and I were planning on going out tonight?"

"I make a regular habit of watching the security feed of your interactions with Khan. I tuned in this morning to see just what you two would discuss, as I do most mornings," he explained, causing her frown to deepen. "You informed him that your evening session would be held a little earlier because you had plans to go to a club with Carol. There were also his comments about you and Starfleet." To Marcus, he clarified, "Khan insinuated that we've turned our back on her due to her mistake with Lieutenant O'Connor, and claimed that you are holding her career hostage so that she'll do what you want."

"Is that what you think, Dr. Walsh?" Marcus asked, hardly concerned anymore with her spending time with his daughter and more concerned about the thoughts Khan might be filling her head with. He would have to remind Khan to keep his mouth shut about certain things for the sake of his crew.

Alice didn't reply right away, instead taking a moment to breathe and gather her thoughts. "What I think… is that you are giving me a chance to make amends by rehabilitating Khan. That's what I think. If I fail, I lose my career – perfectly fair."

She sounded like she was being completely honest with him, but he couldn't say for sure if she truly believed what she'd told him or was just spitting out what he wanted to hear.

Deciding that for now he would take her word for it, he nodded slowly and replied, "I'm glad you aren't buying into Khan's lies, doctor. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how manipulative he can be."

"I assure you, I'm quite aware of that."

"Good." Rising to his feet, both Dalton and Alice following his lead, he concluded, "If that's all, you are dismissed. I'll expect to read your reports weekly as usual."

"Yes, sir," she replied quickly, turning to make her leave. But she slowly came to a halt, standing stock still for a moment, before sighing and turning to face him. "Sir, may I make a request regarding my treatment of Khan?"

Glancing at her briefly as he took a seat once again to get back to some of his other work, he nodded. "Let's hear it."

"With your permission, Admiral, I was wondering if it would be at all possible to allow Khan to come up to ground level at some point. To get some fresh air and just… get out for a few hours."

That was hardly the request he thought she would make and it was the most insanely absurd thing he'd heard come from her mouth or anyone's mouth for that matter, and Doyle too stared at her in disbelief.

"Why would I allow a known Augmented, psychopathic murderer roam the streets of London?"

"Even supermen get restless, sir," she pointed out. "And being that Khan is our guest, as you put it, shouldn't he be allowed a small bit of freedom by seeing how the world has changed and be allowed to take a break from his work?"

He leaned forward, interlacing his fingers on his desk, and asked, "What's to say he won't just run off and escape? And why should it matter to me if he gets to see the sights or not?"

"Whatever deal you've made with him will keep him from running, I'm sure of it. He wouldn't be doing the work you've assigned to him without some sort of deal, that's just not how he is," she explained smoothly. It was likely that she'd thought about this throughout their entire meeting, which would explain the distant look in her eyes. But now those dark green eyes were staring at him with a look that made him feel as if he were now the one being studied under a microscope. "And as you called him, he's a guest, so shouldn't we treat him as one? Unless I'm to understand that he's actually a prisoner."

Marcus ground his teeth, not liking the conclusions she was drawing up. Maybe Khan was getting to her after all.

"Look," she started again, noticing the look on his face. "You brought me here to study and rehabilitate Khan into a functioning member of society. I need to see how he reacts in public to really help him. You can have plain dressed security officers follow us and I will not let Khan out of my sight."

Marcus said nothing for several seconds, working through her request as she stood there waiting for his answer. If he didn't let Alice have her way, she'd begin to see the truth that Khan was in fact a prisoner and she might even start to question her reasons for being there. It didn't sit well with him, letting Khan out of his cage, but would the man really dare cross him with the lives of his crew on the line?

"I'll tell you what, Dr. Walsh," Marcus began slowly. "Khan has been here roughly a month, hardly enough time for me to trust that he won't run. You have to understand, though, that given his past I have to keep the safety of others in mind, but if there is a significant improvement five months from now – we'll call it the halfway mark – I will consider letting him out for a while. Will that suffice?"

She thought about it and then nodded. "Five months – understood, sir."

"All right, then," he sighed, giving her a curt nod. "You're dismissed."

This time, she did leave, and he was left pondering what had just taken place.

Doyle knowingly came to stand beside his chair. "Do you really intend to follow through and let him out of his cage, sir?"

"No, I don't, but Walsh believes that I will and that is what matters. Five months from now I'll find an excuse to keep him underground. In the mean time," he began, looking towards the door Alice had exited through. "Follow her to the club and remind her that we're in charge."

"Do you want me to just scare her, or would you like me to give her… physical incentive not to cross us?"

"Just scare her for now," he instructed, bringing up the holographic model of the USS _Vengeance_, studying the warship that he would one day command. "Remind her that without my approval, she'll be nothing more than a disgraced Starfleet officer. I'm sure her parents would roll over in their graves if that were to happen. If she gets too out of line, you have my permission to give her whatever physical incentive you see fit to carry out so long as it doesn't result in her death."

Smirking, Doyle nodded and left Marcus' officer to get to his duties, already looking forward to his task later in the evening.

Doyle was a loyal friend and officer, but the man had an acute like for tormenting people, something Marcus always used to his advantage. If anyone could scare Alice back into line, it was Doyle.

Pushing his concerns about the woman's loyalty, Admiral Marcus, glancing at the photo of his daughter, sighed and began reviewing the details of the _Vengeance_.

* * *

_**Review please! Reviews let me know that you wish for more!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: _This chapter didn't take nearly as long to write as I thought it would, so I decided to post it a day early!_ **

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Alice didn't require much to be happy. A good book or perhaps a day on the water was enough to keep her content, as well as the occasional night in a bar of some kind, but what she truly longed for in Section 31 was someone to vent to.

Back in San Francisco, she would often vent about her patients to a few of her closest friends. Never would she go into too much detail, nor would she reveal the names of the patients she spoke of, but she would say enough to where she'd feel better about what was bothering her. She didn't have that kind of friendship within the top secret facility. Most of the men and women working down there had little desire to converse with her or anyone else, and being that many were already curious about Khan – whom they believed to be John Harrison – she couldn't say much of anything to them.

It was quite lonely, so when she discovered that her longtime friend Carol Marcus was on her way back to London after as assignment in the US, Alice jumped at the chance for the two of them to get together and catch up as they'd not seen each other for months. The club was Carol's idea and not Alice's first choice, but anything would do, especially when they both had various things they wanted to talk about with each other.

Apparently, Carol had stuck her nose somewhere she shouldn't have, thus her father refused to see her, to even speak with her for fear that she'd learn more. Given that Marcus always let his daughter get a peek at whatever he was working on in any facility, whatever she'd stumbled upon that had him shut her out must be pretty significant.

The weapon's expert refused to speak of anything further by communicator and so they'd made arrangements to meet at a local club in London that Carol liked to just catch up and vent to each other, something both women needed.

It was just the break Alice had been looking for, and she'd eagerly gone out after her meeting with Marcus to buy herself an outfit appropriate for a club.

Now, dressed in a deep red shirt of alien design with no back to speak of save for the strings holding it to her, black jeans that hung low on her hips, and metallic black sandals with a high heel, she sat at a table in the dimly lit club, waiting. It was the most dressed up she'd gotten in a long time, and it felt nice to let her hair down for a change, especially now.

The music pounded and thundered at a volume much too high for her liking, reminding her why she rarely went to clubs, and she took a sip of her drink. It was some kind of Andorian cocktail that the bartender had assured her would not make her too drunk – she didn't need to wake the following morning with a hangover. That wouldn't look good on her weekly report to Marcus, or if he saw fit to pay her a visit sometime tomorrow before he went back to the States for some time, leaving the care and management of Section 31 to his First Officer, Commander Doyle. Doyle was an ass whom she sought to avoid as much as possible. Khan was the psychopathic murderer, but it was Doyle, a Starfleet officer, who frightened her.

Each time he mentioned the word "parameters" or questioned anything regarding her work with Khan she wanted to wring his neck. The so-called parameters were very clear; she wasn't to speak a word of her work in Section 31 to anyone not specified by Marcus, she was to shadow Khan and treat him but wasn't to question him on his reasons for working for Marcus, and she wasn't allowed to stick her nose in anything that involved the work going on in Section 31. There were so many rules for her to follow, all very clear yet technical, but those three were the biggest that she had to follow. As for Khan, he was her problem, not his, and he needed to keep his nose out of her business.

Sighing as she sipped green colored drink, she raked her eyes over her PADD. Even in a club, she desired to do her work, and Khan was too fascinating of a man to just push from her mind for too long.

The heavy beat of the music reminded her of what he said about what he enjoyed and how the music of the 20th century couldn't compare with modern music. Finding that kind of music these days would be difficult to say the least since not many listened to it anymore. Then there was that look he gave her when she mentioned that she was going out. It almost looked like he was jealous or put off by her going out, and it confused her until she put two and two together.

Khan's accommodations were little more than a cell and he was constantly followed by security. He couldn't go outside and it wouldn't matter if he asked for worldly possessions because he wouldn't get them. Marcus called him a guest, but the truth of the matter was that he was essentially a prisoner. The thought was disconcerting and hardly sat with her. Technically he could still be held prisoner seeing as he was deemed a war criminal, but still, it wasn't right. His crimes were committed in the 20th century – at the very least he should have a new trial or something. Maybe amends could be made after she helped him, unless Marcus had anything to say about it.

Both men were using her, she wasn't foolish enough to not notice, and each had their own motives and reasons. Oddly enough, she felt more comfortable with Khan manipulating her than Marcus because she expected it from Khan, not a Starfleet admiral.

"Good Lord, do you do anything but work?" asked a familiar voice with an English accent.

Raising her head from her PADD, Alice smiled when she saw Carol standing beside her, peering over at the PADD

"You know me – I'm married to my work," she commented, stepping out of her chair and setting her drink down to embrace her best friend. "Think you could've found a louder place?" she asked, voice raised to be heard over the music.

"It's the only club worth going to," explained Carol as she pulled away, smiling brightly. "How are you liking London?"

"Truthfully, I've been too busy to do much sightseeing," she admitted as she sat back down with Carol. "Most I've been able to do is shop for some knickknacks to brighten up my accommodations."

"Where are you staying anyways? You never did say."

Alice hesitated. "A small flat off sight of the Archives. Nothing special."

"So… you're not living underground?"

Eyes widening, she gaped at her friend. "I don't –"

"My father told me what the Archive really is and what's really going down below," she interrupted, voice lowered fractionally. "He generally allows me to sneak a peek at what all he's working on there and I'll… discretely offer my input. What I'm saying is don't worry about saying something you shouldn't. I already know about the place."

A weight lifted from her shoulders and she breathed out a sigh, grateful that she at least didn't have to lie about everything to Carol. She just had to make sure she didn't say anything too revealing about why she was there and that Khan was her patient. Admiral Marcus would have her ass if he found out she told her anything she shouldn't.

"So, what exactly are you doing down there?" Carol asked, sipping her own drink that she brought with her to the table. "You're hardly knowledgeable on weapons. I mean have you ever even handled a standard Starfleet phaser?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Of course I have. And as for why I'm there… it's sort of a private matter."

"Who am I going to tell?"

"Your father."

Carol hesitated, tongue in cheek as she glanced across the club. Just as they had no secrets from each other, Carol didn't keep secrets from her father. After the death of her mother, Marcus had practically raised her on his own and thus the two were incredibly close.

But were they still so close? After all, Carol did mention that she dug too deep into something and caused a substantial rift between her and her father. It was still a concern of Alice's that she'd inadvertently say something she shouldn't and that her words would find their way back to Marcus via his daughter.

Catching on to her concerns either by Alice's expression or by just knowing her so well, Carol sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Dad always lets me take a look at whatever he's working on even if it's classified material. And then two days ago, I was looking into some of the research going on in 31 with the access code my father gave me and came across some documents and preliminary designs for advanced photon torpedoes. An hour later when I tried to get in once again after showering, my access was denied to anything and everything going on down there. I tried calling him but he wouldn't accept my calls, so I cut my work in San Francisco short yesterday and flew down here to confront him directly, only to find that not only will he not accept my calls but he won't even see me. I'm hoping to catch him on his way back to San Francisco tomorrow, maybe waltz onto the same shuttle with him, or something." Taking a more significantly long drink from her glass, she added sadly, "You have any idea how much it hurts to have your own father not want to see you? To… to act mad and not tell you why?"

An ache settled in Alice's chest. "I don't, actually."

"Oh, damn, Ali, I'm sorry," Carol started, having forgotten that her parents had died when she was only a little girl. "I wasn't thinking…"

The doctor raised her hand, stopping the apology with a heavy sigh. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

Her parents weren't where her thoughts were truly lying, but rather they dwelled on the images of the torpedoes she'd caught sight of earlier in the month before Khan brought up some documents over it and a ship called the _Vengeance_. They too were photon torpedoes and were like nothing she'd seen before, and Khan had been quick to obscure her view of them and the ship. She had little doubt that they were what Carol had stumbled upon. The question remained as to what made them so special that Marcus had shut out his own daughter.

Looking to her friend, she worried on her lower lip, painted red with lipstick and tucked her curled blond hair behind her ears. Carol had been turned away by her own father, and now Alice was trying to keep her in the dark with why she was in London.

After a moment's thought, debating on what Carol had said and what she wasn't supposed to do, she began carefully, "I'm treating one of your father's agents – John Harrison. He's a rather… difficult man and your father thought I might be the best person for the job."

"Even after what happened with the lieutenant?" she asked gently, sympathetic of the sensitive subject that was her dead patient.

She nodded. "He said that if I succeeded in helping Harrison my record would be cleaned up and I wouldn't face repercussions for what happened."

"In short, you won't be dishonorably discharged from Starfleet," the specialist summed up, stunned. "Is he blackmailing you into doing this?"

"I wouldn't call it blackmailing," she started, worried that she shouldn't have hinted to it so obviously.

"That's what it sounds like," Carol argued. "My father wouldn't do something like that."

"Look, that's beside the point, all right? At this point I'll do whatever it takes to fix my career. Just please don't mention to him that I've said a word of anything to you."

"I won't, promise," she assured her quickly. Swirling the liquid around in its glass, she asked, "So, who is this Harrison guy anyways? What's wrong with him?"

Deciding to go with what seemed to be the most common rumor surrounding the fiction that was John Harrison, she replied, "Severe PTSD, along with a variety of other issues. His entire family was recently killed."

"My God, that's awful!" Carol exclaimed softly, frowning.

"I know, and believe me when I say he isn't taking it very well," she said. It was a lie with bits and pieces of truth thrown in, but she couldn't come out and say that Khan had always been the way he was – claiming that he'd undergone some radical change due to his family dying was a plausible explanation that was believable enough. "He's always been a bit ruthless, but he's dead set in believing that he's better than everyone, that he knows what's best from everyone. There are times where I swear he wants to kill me and the people he works with."

"Do you think you can help him? Move past it all, I mean?"

She shrugged, downing her drink. "I really don't know, Carol. He doesn't want to change, nor does he think anything is wrong with him – that's the problem. The man has an ego the size of Earth and I just want to slap him straight in the face and tell him that he's the reason his family is dead."

"Not one for 'doctor/patient privilege' tonight, are you?"

"Oh, screw doctor/patient privilege – the man's a jackass and has been a thorn in my side for the past mouth," she huffed, already feeling the effects of the alcohol. Technically, she wasn't revealing anything about Khan, only Harrison – they were on in the same, obviously, but she needed to vent to _someone_. "I mean, he's rude, arrogant, and thinks that because I'm not as good as he is or whatever that I should bend over backwards and fear him. Like he's God's gift! I swear, if I have to hear him bring up my career trouble or hear talk in his _I'm Harrison and I am perfect, all bow before me _attitude, I'll fucking strangle him!"

At that, Carol burst out laughing.

Alice glared at her. "What're you laughing at?"

"You only ever swear like that when a man genuinely has you all flustered, and it sounds like this Harrison man has done a good job of it," she said matter-of-factly. "Is he attractive?"

"Well, yes, he's incredibly attractive, but that's not the point, Carol," she insisted sharply, feeling her cheeks flush. "He's just… he thinks the worst of Starfleet with all that's going on, and… and so help me sometimes I think he's right in thinking the things that he does."

Amusement giving way to seriousness, Carol asked slowly, "What do you mean, you think he's right?"

"He's permitted to continue working, but essentially he's little more than a prisoner," she admitted, blanketing the truth with just enough lies to keep Khan's identity intact. "Your father thinks he's dangerous and isn't even giving him a real chance to prove otherwise. Harrison's quarters are little more than a cell, he can't come to the surface, and… and your father has the nerve to call him a guest as opposed to just being honest with me and calling him a prisoner."

Alice wasn't as oblivious to the reality of the situation as she led Marcus to believe. Anyone could see that Khan was hardly a guest of Starfleet, but rather a prisoner under the disguise of a guest. And she certainly didn't buy into his promise that in five months Khan could come out of the hole in the ground that was Section 31 provided he'd made some improvement. Her request, though serious, had been more of a test that Marcus failed almost instantly.

Khan would never "improve" to the point where Marcus would let him out of 31, at least not in five months or even a year. A part of her wondered if Khan would ever be allowed a fraction of freedom.

Despite her dislike of the man, a part of her heart hurt for Khan. He needed to face judgment for his war crimes during the Eugenics War, but not like this. What Marcus was doing to Khan was hardly fair. What gave Marcus the right to play judge and jury with a man's freedom?

"You know, my Dad only ever has the best of intentions," Carol ventured. "He's a good man."

"I know, it's just… I don't know," she sighed, shutting her eyes. "I really just don't know."

Carol tapped her fingers against the table, suddenly uncomfortable. "Look, Ali, knowing all that's going on I'm feeling a little guilty, but… I didn't just ask you here to hang out."

"Of course you didn't," Alice mumbled.

"I was sort of hoping that you might be able to get me some information on the torpedoes being developed," she confessed guiltily.

Alice laughed humorlessly, making a move to sip from her drink only to remember that the glass was empty. "First the admiral, then Harrison, now you? Everybody wants something from me lately, it seems."

"Alice, don't be like that. If I'd known what all was going on I wouldn't have even mentioned the torpedoes tonight, but you have to admit that something bad is going on. Why wouldn't he let me see them otherwise? Why would he be blackmailing you?" she questioned almost desperately. Licking her lips, she then added, "Look, you don't have to do anything – I'm just asking you to think about it. Please."

She ground her teeth tensely before nodded a tad reluctantly. "I'll think about it."

With a half-smile, her friend curled her arm around her shoulders in a grateful hug, and Alice half-heartedly returned it. "I'll go get us some drinks. What do you want?"

"Something strong," Alice said without hesitation, having the sudden desire to get drunk.

Normally she wouldn't drink so much when she had work to do in the morning, but she really needed to just let go for one night. All thoughts about being hungover mattered little to her now

Carol caught wind of this and merely nodded before weaving her way through the crowed to get them their drinks.

Breathing out a heavy sigh, the psychologist, glanced towards her PADD briefly before eventually dragging it back in front of her. After a few swipes and taps of her fingers, Khan's image appeared.

Alice had been looking forward to catching up with her best friend, to getting away from the Section 31 for just a few hours, and yet she'd been dragged right back into things. Given everything, it wasn't surprising to find that even her friend wanted something from her. Carol might be asking her to do something she'd get in serious trouble for out of curiosity and concern that something terrible was going on, but the fact of the matter was that even after Alice told her about what her father was doing – no matter how vaguely she told her – Carol still asked.

Clicking her tongue as she looked at Khan's image, she sighed.

She couldn't believe it, but she almost missed his company.

The chair beside her screeched as it was pulled out and she expected that Carol had returned, but when a distinctly masculine hand set a glass filled with the Andorian drink she'd downed moments earlier before her, she snapped her eyes to the newcomer and groaned in pure irritation.

"What the hell do you want?" she demanded sourly.

Doyle smirked in amusement, dressed in dark wash jeans and a light blue button-up shirt. "Can't a man get a lady a drink?"

"Not in your case, so what do you want?" she asked, pushing the drink away he'd given her away.

"Nothing in particular," he replied casually, pulling the PADD from her fingers, a deep frown setting on his face when he saw just who's image previously had her attention. "Can't leave your work at home, can you?"

"I like staying on top of things."

A twisted smirk found its way to his face. "Yes, I do imagine that you'd prefer being on top."

She looked on him in disgust. "Anyone ever tell you you're a pig?"

He just chuckled and dragged her drink back towards her, and said, "Come on, seriously, I'm just trying to be nice, okay? Would it kill you to give me a chance, Alice?"

"Walsh, doctor, or Commander will do, Doyle," she corrected dryly, but she eyed the drink, her mouth watering. With a sigh of defeat, she grasped the glass he'd offered her and took a small sip. "It's bitter."

"I had the bartender put it more alcohol than it calls for," he explained with a shrug. "After today, felt you might need the extra kick."

Well, she couldn't say he was wrong about that, and she took another sip with more ease.

"What have you and Carol been talking about?" Doyle asked, turning serious.

She hesitated and then shrugged. "Girl things."

"Elaborate."

"I didn't tell her about Khan, if that's what you're getting at," she snapped quietly. It was true, sort of. She'd told Carol about "Harrison" – she wasn't going to get technical about them being the same man.

"Then tell me what you did tell her."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache suddenly spring into her head. This whole mess was playing with her system lately.

"She vented to me about how she's having problems with her dad, and I vented to her that I've got a patient stressing me out – a patient her dad wants me to treat discreetly," she said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to read his reaction. "She knows that Marcus is… helping me get my career back on track by treating Harrison."

His brown eyes narrowed. "You told her about Khan?"

"No," she insisted tightly, shaking her head slightly to clear it of the fogginess. "I told her a little bit about John Harrison. If I didn't tell her what I was doing in Section 31 – I'm assuming you're aware she knows about it – she'd become suspicious. All I told her was that _Harrison _is having some serious problems that Marcus wants me to help the man with. That's it," she replied, hoping he didn't dig any further into the depth of what she told Carol. The man would wring her neck, she was sure enough, and with how quickly the added alcohol was affecting her, she didn't want to chance pissing him off.

Breathing out a heavy sigh, Doyle drank some of his Budweiser Classic and stared at her PADD before snorting. "Our favorite tyrant is a menace to society, Alice. Once he does what we want, we should just execute the guy and be done with him. Fortunately for him, Marcus wants to keep him around, and he seems to think you're instrumental in keeping Khan in line. You need to keep your head in your work, Alice, and put your hurt feelings aside."

She sipped her drink shakily, feeling upset to her stomach and a little dizziness come about suddenly. Strange, considering she had a decent alcohol tolerance. "My hurt feelings?"

"You think Starfleet has turned its back on you, like we don't care. We really do, and Marcus can help you get things heading in the right direction if you just do what he says," he explained gently, reaching forward brazenly to tuck a stray blond curl back from her face, unfazed when she clumsily jerked away. "But you've got to understand that when you don't play by the rules, there will be repercussions."

It was something that she already knew, but the way he said it combined how he was touching her, and how she was feeling made her acutely uneasy and worried. She picked up the glance, taking a small drink, only to feel a wave of dizziness come over her that made her feel wobbly even while sitting.

Grinning darkly, he asked innocently, "Enjoying the drink, Alice?"

She blinked at him, confused, her vision blurry and making him look a little distorted.

And then it hit her.

Shoving the glass away with enough force to topple it over, spilling its contents, she scooted back from the table, her heart pounding in a panic. "What the hell did you give me?"

"Nothing dangerous, just a mild sedative," he informed her without a care in the world.

"You son-of-a…!" She lashed out to slap him, but her balance was hardly all there and her body had a numbness to it that made the strike weak at best, and Doyle easily grasped her wrist before she could hit him.

Yanking her close, his hot breath on her face making her ill, he hissed, "If I was so inclined, I could drag you out of here and do whatever the hell I wanted to you and there wouldn't be a damn thing you could do about it. _This _is what's going to happen if you don't do what Marcus says, you got it? I can make you deeply regret your mistakes."

She fought to pull her hand back, to put some distance between them, but her body wasn't entirely her own at the moment with the sedative flowing through her system, making her dizzy and sick, and it scared her to death, not having any control.

Doyle would follow through with his threat, her mind was clear enough to figure that out. Either through drugging her, physical violence, or – God forbid – rape, he would make her pay for each and every mistake. He got off on scaring her, judging by the grin still on his face, evidence of the pleasure he was getting.

"Hey!" snapped a voice sharply, and Alice had never been so happy to see Carol storming over. "Commander Doyle? What is going on? What's wrong with Alice?"

Releasing her, the man shrugged. "Can't hold her liquor, I guess."

"Like hell she can't!" Dropping the drinks to the table, Carol grasped Alice's shoulders. "Ali? Ali, what did he do to you?"

Alice opened her mouth to tell her that she'd been drugged, that she needed to get to the hospital, but one glance at Doyle and she slurred, "Put too much alcohol in my drink. Thought it'd get me to relax. Worked too well."

Carol didn't readily believe it and glared at Doyle, but she had more pressing concerns.

Stuffing Alice's PADD into the purse she'd brought with her, she draped the purse over her friend's shoulder then hooked her arm over her shoulders, helping her up. "I'm putting you in a cab and sending you back to 31 to sleep it off. This is bad, even for you."

She would get no argument from Alice and she stumbled out of the club with her friends help, make a mental note to never go clubbing again as they reached the cold night air.

Once they were safely away from Doyle, Carol asked sternly as she hailed a cab, "Did he put something in your drink, Alice? You can tell me."

Staying true to the lie, too afraid to come clean to Carol, she shook her head. "Jus' drunk."

Carol sighed, not believing her. "If you decide you want to come clean, let me know." When a cab pulled up, she helped her inside and said to the cabbie, "Kelvin Archives, please, and help her inside, will you?"

He blinked. "The Archives? Don't you want me to take her home?"

Thinking fast, she lied, "Her husband is working late there tonight and has the keys to their flat. Just tell one of the guards that she's Commander Alice Walsh, and they'll take care of her until he can take her home."

"All right, whatever you say," he agreed with a small shrug.

Looking to her friend, upset, she brushed some hair out of her sweaty face. "You get some sleep, all right?"

Alice nodded, the action making her head throb terribly.

With great reluctance, Carol shut the door and let the cab drive off.

The cabbie, an aging man with glasses, asked, "Have a good night of partying, I assume?"

"Yeah," she muttered. "Fantastic."

Throughout the drive, the man kept up a conversation, clearly a chatty man by nature, but she paid little attention.

Alice drew the line at being drugged and threatened so bluntly. If Doyle sought to scare her into doing as she was told, he only pissed her off – though she was more than a little scared – and there would be great consequences to what he'd just done, starting tomorrow.

Come morning, Alice was going to have a little chat with Khan.

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_**Review please! Reviews let me know you wish for more!**_

_**A/N:**** As of Wednesday 19, I have had constant migraines since Sunday, thus have done very little writing. I am leaving this note to inform you all that the next update will be slightly delayed and likely won't be posted until Monday as opposed to Friday or Saturday. **_

_**...**_

**Works In-Progress****:**

**Star Trek**_** ~ "The Choices We Make"... **_**Khan/OFC**_**  
**_

**Carriers**_** ~ "Fate of the Chosen"... **_**Brian/OFC**_**  
**_

_**...**_

**Coming Soon:**

**Sherlock**_** ~ "Untitled"... **_**Sherlock/OFC... (Due to be posted in mid to late July)  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **_**Dear Lord, I felt like I was pulling teeth with this chapter. It wasn't because it was difficult to write, it's just that my migraines have been exceptionally bad and constant. Normally I only have one or two a month, but I've had one from Sunday 16 to Thursday 20 around the clock. When I have to call in sick to work, it's bad.**_

_**And then a nasty freak storm blew through and knocked out the power for nearly a day on Monday which put a kink in things. Can't exactly update the fic when there's no power :/ I was only able to make a few updates to my profile earlier because I had cell service. By the time I got it back, it was late so I opted to wait until I got home from work tonight to upload, check, and update the fic.**_

_**Not the longest chapter, probably not even my best work, but I'm satisfied with it.**_

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The morning began as any other.

Khan awoke at five to begin acquaint himself with the day's work, as well as to afford himself a short while to relax, shower, and eat. His attire was similar to what he always wore – a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants. Everything was the same as it had always been, except this time there was a change in the air surrounding the guards who had popped their heads in a short while ago.

Then been murmuring to themselves on how trashed Alice had been when she returned not more than an hour after she left last night and how she'd refused to talk about any of it. If they cared that Khan overheard every word they did not show it and left promptly after their inspection of his cell, ensuring that he had not made or done anything during the night even though the security feed was constantly recording.

The notion of Alice becoming so drunk seemed more than a little odd in Khan's mind. While the woman probably had the occasional drink, she hardly seemed like the kind of person to allow herself to fall into such a state. She'd seemed to be going more for the company of her friend than to drink. It didn't add up with all that he'd witnessed from her this past month, but he was certain he'd learn more upon her arrival shortly, if she did in fact show up on time. Considering the description of the guards, he would not be surprised if she were to be even an hour late.

Realizing that he could be waiting for quite some time, he took a seat in his chair to examine the various PADDs he had scattered all over the coffee table.

Each PADD was just as important as the one beside it, housing the specs of some weapon or sections of the ship. Perhaps all the data could be compiled onto one or two PADDs, but Khan liked to have everything laid out before him. Having thirteen PADDs he could look to at any given time and easily find something based on the specific subject within its core was easier than digging methodically through a mess of files on one or two of them.

He could be called old fashioned – he _was _old fashioned – but he missed the use of paper and pen, and he would happily opt for that over the PADDs.

Technology was not difficult for him to grasp. His superior intellect allowed him to learn all there was to learn about anything he desired at an expert level, and learning the use of the new technology of the day and age was no exception, but there was something so… impersonal about it all.

Khan was a man who desired to be in control of his own actions, either fully or mostly. Some aspects of technology now, as far as he was concerned, robbed the ones wielding it of any responsibility. When activated, it was the automated targeting systems of a ship that did the killing, not the one behind the controls, and that just wasn't how he handled things if he could help it.

No matter what he did, Khan almost always took responsibility for his actions, and thus wanted to be as involved in all that he did to the highest degree possible.

Drawing him away from his thoughts, the door hissed open and he turned his eyes towards a very disheveled doctor.

Alice looked like she hadn't slept for a week with dark bags under her eyes that she didn't try to hide and a few shade paler than was healthy, nor were her green eyes as bright as they normally were.

The woman before him didn't look hangover, she looked exhausted, perhaps even sick.

But what struck him as odd was the fact that she was twenty minutes early.

"Good morning, Khan," she greeted, tone clipped as she shifted uneasily. "If it's all the same, we'll be having our session in my quarters this morning."

He blinked, narrowing his eyes fractionally. "Is there something wrong with my cell, doctor?"

"Nothing at all, I just have a nasty headache and would rather have our session in my quarters where I'm more comfortable. No offense, but your place is too… white."

That much was true, for sure. The walls, the chairs, even the bed were solid white. It was enough to drive anyone mad after a while.

"Very well," he conceded after a moment, rising to his feet.

Walking through the door after her, he fell into step beside the doctor and immediately took notice that the two guards normally posted by his cell were nowhere in sight and that they were not being trailed by guards of any kind.

He looked to Alice and found that she stared straight ahead, her grip on her PADD tight. Something had her on edge, and he doubted it was the headache. Curiosity nagged at him but he bit back the urge to question her true intentions and instead just followed. He was bound to discover the truth once they reached her quarters.

Punching in a quick code in the console beside her door, she quickly stepped inside and he followed after her. He was struck by the soft scent of lilies, reminiscent to the perfume Alice wore, and there were fresh lilies in a vase on the coffee table. Something about the flower meant something to her, else she wouldn't have notes of the flower everywhere.

As she set her PADD down and went in search of something, Khan took a moment to get a feel for the woman's temporary home.

She'd made it quite homey – as homey as one could make something that could double as a cell. Paintings and photos of beaches and forests hung one the walls, and a deep red blanket was draped over the white couch. One thing that caught his attention was the ornate crystal chess set laid out beside the vase on the coffee table.

It had been so long since he'd played a decent game of chess, and idly he picked up the king and turned over the black crystal in his hand.

"Do you play?"

Looking up to find Alice staring at him, he nodded. "Yes."

"I spent a lot of my time growing up playing chess," she commented, clutching her communicator in her hand as she walked over. "Not a whole lot else to do when you're bouncing from one home to another constantly."

"These pieces are in need of polishing," he observed, noticing how scuffed and foggy the crystal had become, especially the king. "You should not let the king get this way. It's the most important piece."

"Actually," she argued, taking the king from him and returning it to its place. "The queen is more important."

He arched a brow, smirking. "Is that right?"

"Behind every great man, stood a woman," she pointed out. "Without the queen being free to move about the board, the king would be utterly vulnerable and alone. He might be more valuable, but she's more important to his preservation."

Khan had to wonder if they were still discussing the king and queen chess pieces, but before he could question Alice her communicator began beeping wildly and she quickly answered it. "Walsh."

"You're all clear, doc," said a man on the other end.

Alice sighed in relief, leaning back against the wall. "How long do we have? Fifteen minutes?"

"Fifteen before they come back online, but ten before Doyle notices something fishy going on," he corrected. "The commander usually pops into the system around ten 'til. While the systems won't be back online for another fifteen minutes, he'll notice somethings up in around ten."

"Got it. Thanks for this."

"Just remember your end of the bargain," he reminded her tightly. "I'm not against letting Doyle in on this if you don't."

"You have my word, Steve," she assured him.

"I better."

With that, the connection was cut and the doctor set the communicator down on the counter beside her.

She didn't speak for several seconds, instead choosing to busy herself with retrieving a glass and filling it with water, shakily drinking from it.

"Turns out your quarters aren't the only place with constant surveillance," she said after finishing half her water. "I made a deal with Steve at the front desk to, uh, do some maintenance on the security feed in my quarters before Doyle gets in that would require the feed going dark for a little while. All I have to do is preform his yearly psych evaluation with him and give him a gold star so he stands a better chance at moving up the totem poll." She turned to face him, leaning back against the sink. "We've got the next ten minutes all to ourselves."

No guards?

No security feed?

To Khan, it would be a golden opportunity to make a strike of some kind against the doctor. To do something that would frighten her into doing what he wanted. But he didn't do that, knowing that he needed to be patient and precises, and no matter how tempting he couldn't take the direct approach.

But why was she taking such a risk?

Curious, wondering what was going on and how far he could push her, Khan approached her slowly, taking a small amount of pleasure in seeing her tense up and grip her glass tightly as she watched him come to a halt directly in front of her.

"You're not a fool, Dr. Walsh, nor are you naïve enough to believe that I have some invisible leash around my neck, so tell me," he started, tone low. "Why take such a risk and put yourself in danger?"

Grinding her teeth, she replied tightly, "I'm not an idiot, Khan. I know that Marcus is playing me, and I know that you are too for whatever reason. Hell, even my best friend is trying to use me to some degree! I can't lose my career, so I can tolerate you and Marcus pulling me in different directions, and I can tolerate Carol wanting information. But what I _can't take _is Doyle threatening me on Marcus' behalf."

Khan frowned. "Doyle threatened you?"

"After he slipped a sedative into my drink at the club last night, yes," she replied with a nod, shuddering in repulsion at the memory. "Apparently, my report made Admiral Marcus believe that my loyalty was in question and that I needed some… incentive to remind me of who was in charge."

A sedative certainly explained why Alice looked like hell. Who knew what kind of sedative she was given or how strong it was, and Khan couldn't have that being done to Alice. Whether he liked her or not was irrelevant – she was going to play a key role in his plans, even if he was a little sore about that fact, and he needed her intact. Having Doyle threatened and frighten her was unacceptable and would be detrimental to future plans.

Doyle threatening her was something Khan would not stand for.

"I wouldn't be where I am without the help of Starfleet," she continued, setting down her glass and crossing her arms over her chest. "But I'm not stupid enough to believe that they're infallible. It's obvious that to Marcus you're just a prisoner even though you've yet to have a fair trial, and that's not how Starfleet operates. And last I checked, Starfleet doesn't send its commanders to threaten their own. So, as far as I'm concerned, Marcus and Doyle are operating outside of Starfleet regulations… and I think we can help each other get out of this mess with our necks intact."

Well, that was not what he was expecting to hear.

What he expected her to say in the privacy they now found themselves in, he wasn't quite sure. Maybe for her to demand that he stop it, or maybe to just vent and complain about Marcus and Doyle without the fear of the two men being angered by her words, but not that they could somehow help each other. It should be music to his ears that she wanted to work together, but it wasn't because he sincerely doubted that what he wanted and what she wanted were in the same ballpark.

"Given your dedication to Starfleet, pardon me if I am skeptical of your sudden desire to ally yourself with a 'psychopathic tyrant', to use your own words," he argued. "Better yet, pardon me for doubting you could offer anything that I would want."

Worrying on her lower lip in thought, she purposefully looked past him, at his shoulder, and anywhere but his eyes while she thought over her plan. Perhaps his close proximity was making her nervous, but the last thing he would readily offer her was comfort, and this he would not take a step back and give her back her space.

"You were condemned as a war criminal, and you are going to have to face judgment for that, but Marcus doesn't seem to care much for having your crimes even looked over by anyone other than himself when, given the circumstances, a new trial should be held. He's perfectly content to play judge and jury," she began slowly, choosing her words carefully. "What he's doing here – to you, to me, and in Section 31 in general – I doubt very much if it's legal, and I don't want him to stain Starfleet any more than he already has."

"What do you propose?" he questioned, undeniably curious but managing to sound indifferent.

"My parents would roll over in their graves if they knew of some of the threats Marcus and Doyle have made to me, I what those two are doing disrespects their memory. With the right evidence, I can reveal Marcus to Admirals Pike, Abbott, Prescott, and a few others – they're true to Starfleet and won't stand for any of this, I'm sure of it. But there's only so much I can find on my own. That's where you come in." Standing a little straighter, finding her confidence, she continued, "You have access to files that I don't, and I need you to slip me information here and there so I can compile it and hold onto it until I have enough to bring forth to the other admirals."

"And in exchange I get what?" he asked, taking yet another step closer until her back was firmly pressed to the counter just to keep some space between them. "Or am I to believe that you expect me to do this out of the kindness of my heart?"

She shook her head, swallowing. "I don't expect you to help me without getting something in return, but I think you'll find my offer hard to refuse."

"There is nothing you have that I want."

"Not even freedom?"

Khan fell silent, freedom being the one button she could press that could get to him.

"One way or another, all of this is going to come out into the open, and being a psychologist, even a nearly disgraced one, my word will carry some weight, especially with Admiral Pike – he was a good friend of my father," she explained. "Help me, and I promise that I will speak on your behalf when the time comes, but until then I'd be more than happy to bring you things to make your… stay here more comfortable – books, music, anything, just name it."

For a several seconds, Khan said nothing, nor did he move or even blink as he considered her offer. It was more than he could have asked for, her offer to "speak on his behalf" and bring him items he desired. If she stayed true to her word, he could acquire seemingly harmless items to aid him in his plan to escape with his fellow Augments. He wondered for a moment if he should come clean about the fact that his people were still alive, but it was far too soon to reveal such a thing to her, especially when her loyalty was still with Starfleet, even if it was no longer with Marcus.

More than that, Khan wasn't entirely sure he believed her.

As shaken as Doyle had made her, Alice would not be suddenly so willing to spy on Admiral Marcus based on that alone. She was too open with her desire to spy on the man, to bring him down. There was another motive that she'd yet to reveal to him, and he was dying to know what was really behind her desire to reveal Marcus.

Whatever her real reason, he couldn't figure it out. Perhaps it had something to do with what made her career so important to her – a mystery he'd yet to unravel – or perhaps it was something else entirely.

Impatient, she demanded tightly, "Do we have a deal, Khan?"

"I've been make a lot of deals as of late, Dr. Walsh," he pointed out dryly. "I grow tired of making deals."

"As do I," she agreed, waiting for his answer. "But neither of us have much choice, do we? You help me gather enough hard evidence on Marcus, and I'll do what I can for you."

If Alice thought that he would actually aid her fully, she was sorely mistaken. Then again, she didn't know that Marcus was hold his people hostage, so why wouldn't she expect him to help her if only to get back at Marcus and gain some freedom? In her mind, it might seem perfectly logical, when to him it was unrealistic.

But the fact of the matter was that he needed her on his side, and having her believe that he was helping her might be the only way to get her there.

With a heavy sigh, the tyrant nodded. "I agree to your terms, Alice Walsh."

A look of relief crossed over her lovely, albeit currently sickly, features, and her posture relaxed. But her ease came too soon, for not a moment later the console of her door beep as the security code was overridden.

Khan had just enough time to take a step away from the woman when Commander Doyle stormed into the room, looking on the two with accusatory eyes.

Grinding his teeth, the commander said to Alice, "I just learned that your security cameras have been having some technical difficulties, requiring them to be shut off for repairs."

Masking her nervousness as fear of the "realization" that she wasn't being watched while with Khan, she demanded, "Why wasn't I made aware of this?"

"Probably for the same reason Khan's guards weren't made aware of him being brought to your quarters," he retorted, and the woman shut her mouth. "Convenient how when the cameras go dark, you and Khan are found together. Having a private chat, were you?"

"As a matter of fact, we were," Khan replied before Alice could, angling his body half between her and Doyle as he faced the man. "Dr. Walsh requested that we meet in her quarters due to her not feeling well, and upon entering I took notice of the security cameras not functioning properly – the low hum they emit can be quite annoying, and as they are now silent it was obvious that they were not functioning. Now, there is little room for privacy around her, but I'm certain that Marcus would understand if there were a few… sensitive subjects to which I would rather not be shared with anyone but my doctor, Alice Walsh. This was the perfect opportunity to discuss a few matters with her in private."

Alice looked more than a little surprised by him so quickly rising to her defense, as did Doyle.

"Sensitive subjects?" Doyle repeated, crossing his arms as he remained unconvinced. "You're well aware of what happens if you cross Marcus, so what could be so 'sensitive' that you'd risk him reneging on your deal?"

If he heard the word "deal" one more time, he would not be able to restrain himself from snapping the man's neck.

With a weary sigh, he asked, "Commander Doyle, do you really wish to be bored by my history in India regarding my mother? I assure you, it is not a topic you will enjoy."

A bit of history thrown in with a lie could be a powerful thing, and Khan watched the wheels turn in Doyle's head.

According to Khan's history, his surrogate mother had been the head scientist of the Chrysalis Program and doted on him like a prodigal son. Amongst that history, was great rebellion on his part, followed by the report that he killed the very woman who had given birth to him during his and his fellows escape.

More or less, it was all true, and it was quite plausible that he would need to vent about his "mommy issues" to someone at some point, even if he cared little for what had transpired and did not consider that woman to be a mother of any kind, but rather to be a warden. It was just enough to get Doyle thinking, however, and that was what he wanted.

"I think you're full of shit, Khan," began Doyle through his teeth. "But I'll leave it for you to explain to Marcus later. Just hurry it up and get to work."

Alice watched Doyle exit her quarters in silence, once again left alone with Khan.

She glanced at her watch, worrying her lower lip, and commented, "We've got a couple minutes before the cameras come back online."

He said nothing, already knowing as much.

"Thanks for that," she said sincerely. "For speaking up."

He snorted. "I didn't do it for you, and I am not entirely sure he bought it, nor do I care. Marcus will find truth it my explanation and that is all I care about."

"Is it so hard to just say you're welcome?"

Khan glanced at her out of his eye, taking note of the small smirk playing at her lips. "We best get on with our session, don't you think?"

"I'll take that as a yes," she said in reply to her own question, refilling her glass as he took a seat on her couch. "Did you have any issues with your mother, or does your history with her and you eventually killing her mean next to nothing?"

"That woman is nothing to me, nor is she any mother of mine – that would make her family, which she is not. She is also not a topic I wish to discuss."

"Noted." To his relief, she didn't press the subject and instead sat down, retrieving her PADD. "How about we instead discuss how you're getting along with the other scientists? Or, perhaps, we can discuss what you enjoy and what interests you? Tell me, do you prefer books, music, what?"

She was giving him a way to tell her what he would like her to bring him without making anyone suspicious. Clever, seeing as he doubted Doyle or Marcus would give a damn about hearing what he liked.

A slight smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

This could very well work to his advantage.

* * *

_**Review, please! Reviews let me know that you wish for more!**_

_**An update will be posted on Friday the 5th. I've been trying to have the next chapter done by Monday at least, but work has been kicking my butt, so I'm taking some more time to pace myself and to just chill for a while. Just mentioning this sooner rather than later.**_

_**...**_

**Works In-Progress****:**

**Star Trek**_** ~ "The Choices We Make"... **_**Khan/OFC**_**  
**_

**Carriers**_** ~ "Fate of the Chosen"... **_**Brian/OFC**_**  
**_

**Legion ~ _"Salvation Falls"... _Michael/OFC  
**

_**...**_

**Coming Soon:**

**Sherlock**_** ~ "Untitled"... **_**Sherlock/OFC... (Due to be posted in mid to late July)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **_**It's a tad on the short side, but I'm happy with it regardless. I love writing long chapters, but sometimes achieving 4,000 plus words is enough, especially during a rough work week. **_

* * *

"Check."

Alice stared at her chess board in disbelief, causing a slight smirk to form on Khan's face.

Over a month had passed since the two had come to their agreement, and Khan had done his best to appease to Alice's need to be in control of something. It was merely an illusion of control, she really having none at all, but he'd learned quickly that he'd been pushing too hard and Marcus had done the same. To truly get to the doctor, to bring her to his side, he needed to make her believe she was in control and slowly yank that rug out from under her. And so he had be leaking her bits and pieces of information that he could afford whisper, though he purposefully avoided telling her anything about the torpedoes.

He still had he crew to consider, and he would not risk their lives any more than he already was by telling her trade secrets. Those torpedoes would be the key in getting his people out of Section 31 alive. No, those torpedoes were off limits to Alice for now.

A few minutes passed as Alice stared at the board with her fingers interlaced beneath her chin. "Been thinking about what to do about Christmas this year, given that it's only eighteen days away. I'll probably spend it down here or I'll just go out for a nice walk. Of course, I could always go to the club again, but being that it didn't… agree with me last time, I think I'll pass for something simpler, you know, away from twisted jackasses."

A small smile tugged at his lips.

Doyle had quickly worked his way up to the top of Alice's shit list, something she discreetly and not so discreetly brought up on occasion. "I suggest you go for a walk, doctor, considering that you're in such close proximity to one in particular whilst down here."

Doyle wasn't exactly far away, his office being on another level with the security feed constantly at his disposal.

"Oh, I don't know. You're not that bad."

Khan snapped his gaze up to her, and his frown deepened when he saw the teasing smile on her face. It was a change from her normally serious, challenging attitude and chilly disposition. In truth, she'd been quite… enjoyable over the past few days.

It was odd.

"I forgot to ask," Alice started after a moment. "How's the book I lent you?"

"Intriguing," he replied with a knowing half-smile.

The doctor had kept her promise of giving him access to whatever it was that he requested over the month. So as to avoid suspicion, he'd mentioned a few books that he liked after making the deal with her, and she went out to purchase them but kept them in her quarters for a day or two before offering to let him borrow them for however long he desired. Technically they were not his, but he had complete access to the books, and so began their little game that involved her figuring out what he wanted.

To go about telling her what he enjoyed and wanted during their sessions only to end up having them in his possession would draw suspicion after a time, so he'd had to figure out a way to get her the information without alerting Doyle who would be constantly watching the security footage. It didn't take him too long to come up with a plan, and it had been amusing to watch Alice attempt to figure it out seeing as he would not tell her for obvious reasons.

All he told her was that the answer was right under her nose while she held the first book she'd "lent" him. She'd been so frustrated that she'd damn near chucked that very book at him, only just managing to reign in her desire to lash out. But his words had stuck with her, and in a few short days she'd noticed something peculiar with her book after flipping through it.

Certain pages had been dog-eared, pages that would have been odd places to stop for a break, and Khan knew that she would find it odd given that it would take him a fairly short time to read even a five-hundred page book. On those pages there were certain words that had been repeatedly run over by ones finger nail, and each marred word on each dog-eared page was a part of a code that read out the title of the next book he wished to read, or was a sentence requesting something else such as pen and paper. He knew that it was only a matter of time before she figured it out, she being quite smart and clever.

Sure enough, a few days later when he came to her quarters for his morning session – they'd taken to meeting in her quarters now as opposed to his – he spotted the book he'd listed within the first book.

Now that she'd figured it out they could avoid suspicion altogether. After all, how could one accuse him of asking for things when he didn't speak a word and was merely permitted to borrow seemingly random items in Alice's possession?

It set into motion the first portion of his plan which was gaining her trust whilst easing back on planting that seed of doubt towards Starfleet. In fact, he doubted he had to further voice the fact that Marcus was untrustworthy and dangerous. Admiral Marcus and Commander Doyle were doing that job for him by regularly threatening and scaring her.

They should have stuck a fancy bow on her head, for they'd essentially given her to him as a present they hadn't intended for her to be.

"So, it's worth the read?" she asked as she moved her king to a spot that put him out of danger.

He nodded, taking a moment to consider his pieces before moving his knight into position and taking one of hers. Alice was a talented chess player, but she was hardly a pro. He had her right where he wanted her, and she was falling into his trap so easily it was almost disappointing, and as of yet she'd not won a single game and they played every couple of days when time permitted it.

As disappointing as it was for her to regularly fall for his tricks in chess, he genuinely enjoyed their time playing the game more often than he didn't.

"You should find it thoroughly enjoyable," he replied seriously with no double meaning in regards to their agreement.

If he told her the book was dull, she would merely flip through it and make like she was fixing the pages he'd dog-eared before putting it away to gather dust, but if he told her it was good, she would take the time to actually read it after "fixing the pages". She seemed to genuinely value his opinion and typically he didn't steer her wrong when it came to what he thought she would like.

Cocking her head at the chess board, contemplating her next move, she asked, "You certainly do enjoy reading, Khan, more so than anyone else I've ever met. Did you have access to books in the facility in India?"

He sighed, pinning her with a weary look before taking a drink from his coffee.

"It bothers you, doesn't it?" she observed, briefly removing her attention from the game. "Talking about that facility."

"It doesn't bother me."

"Then why do you refuse to answer any of my questions regarding it?"

"Because there's not a single reason why you need to know what went on," he answered tersely. "Any important information is on what records that exist."

"Well," she started with the hint of a smile. "I want to know about the unimportant information."

His gaze turned to her before returning to the board, irritated. "Don't attempt to be cute, doctor, it doesn't suit you."

Smirking, keenly aware that she was poking at a subject she shouldn't be messing with, she moved her queen to her desired spot, and asked, "Who says I'm trying to be cute? I really do want to know about what you consider to be unimportant."

"Why?" he questioned bitingly, the irritation he felt slipping into his words. "So you can file it away in some report? Perhaps you believe that such revelations will fix your career. Dr. Alice Walsh, the woman who figured Khan Noonien Singh out. Is that your plan?"

Alice stared at him, all traces of humor gone. "Any time I bring up that place or the Chrysalis Program, you turn exceptionally rude and bitter, and you always turn on me, claiming that I've got some sort of hidden agenda with my questions. I think what went on down there bothers you more than you care to admit to anyone, even to yourself. If you let it, I think your resentment, anger, and downright hate of people can cause you to falter in anything you try to accomplish."

She was pushing her luck, she truly was, and he moved his next piece with growing frustrating after she made her move.

What went on in that facility was information she could easily find in the scant amount of documents Marcus had available. However, what went on in his mind while down there was his business and his alone, but damned if it affected him negatively.

Anger, hate, the need for revenge – all those things were as vital to him as air, as the blood in his veins. They were what made him who he was and they made him powerful.

Alice hadn't a clue what she was talking about.

"If mere memories could make me falter, Dr. Walsh, I wouldn't have reigned over more than one-quarter of Earth's population in the twentieth century," he explained tightly, insulted that he even needed to do so. "Were my years spent in the Program traumatic? To a meek human, it would seem as such, but to me it was all something to be learned from."

"Why traumatic?" she asked, moving her queen yet again, removing one of his pieces.

He moved his bishop to his chosen square with enough force to rattle the other pieces, growing increasingly irritated and angry with Alice's annoying questions. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you choose the word 'traumatic'?" she clarified, studying the pieces. "I don't believe I've used that word to describe your youth, so you came up with that description on your own even though you claim that what all went on was just a lesson. Why'd you choose that word?"

"Because it is merely a word which seemed fitting to the topic," he snapped sharply, hardly paying attention to her move before he made his, feeling his heart begin to pound in his chest in time with his rising anger.

She was pushing it, and if she didn't watch herself he just might snap.

"Fitting in deed, I would say," she agreed with a knowing smile. And then she moved her queen, and her smile turned triumphant. "Check mate."

Khan frowned and turned his eyes to the chess board, unwilling to believe that Alice had beaten _him_.

It would appear that while they'd been bickering, she'd been strategically placing her pieces around his king until her queen had it effectively pinned in a corner with nowhere to run.

He didn't know if he was appalled, embarrassed, or impressed.

"That's my point, Khan," Alice began, seeing fit to explain how she'd finally beaten him. "My asking you about the facility, pushing the topic, even with you claiming that it was not traumatic made you lose focus. It was all because I asked a few simple questions that irked you. Superhuman or not, you're still human – you can still feel, and what you feel can make you screw up once in a while."

Khan said nothing in reply, grinding his teeth as he began returning the pieces to their rightful places.

She sighed, shaking her head. "Believe it or not, I do want to know, and not because I want to advance or even fix my career."

"Then why do you want to know?" he demanded, tired of playing games.

For a long moment, she said nothing, but she did stand and walk over to the single dresser in her quarters. She picked up a photo, staring at it sorrowfully before returning to her seat and handing it to him.

Holding the wooden frame in his hands, he found himself staring at a photo of a family – a man, a woman, and a little girl around the age of six or seven. The family was sitting in a garden overwhelmed by lilies, and the little girl was sitting between her parents with the brightest smile on her face, her green eye wide and happy as she looked up at the camera along with them.

"You're not the only one who's lost your family, and you certainly aren't the only one who's had a traumatic childhood," she explained carefully, tucking her feet under her and setting her PADD to the side. "Bouncing from foster home to foster home at the age of seven and up, not knowing if the family will be nice or beat you senseless for touching the refrigerator without asking… makes for some nasty memories. Hell, there are some nights even now where I have nightmares of some of the things that went on with some of the families." Sighing, she looked away briefly before bring her eyes back to him. "I'm not saying that what we went through is in any way similar – you lost your people recently, and you were raised in an underground facility. What I'm saying, is that I'm probably the only person you're likely to come across anytime soon who has an idea of that kind of pain."

Khan glanced up at her reference to her past in foster care.

He'd read in her file that he'd hacked into that she lost her parents to a foreign virus while they went on a trip to some planet, leaving Alice in the care of a family friend. With no guardian to claim her, she was placed into foster care where she acted out and caused more than a few families to be rid of her so they wouldn't have to put up with her. She had, however, been taken from more than a couple families after schools reported her coming in with bruises, cuts, and a split lip on occasion.

There was one family though that she stayed with from for quite some time. Why she had to leave, the file didn't say, but it was around the age of sixteen and that was when she apparently began showing an interest in Starfleet, regularly contacting Admiral Pike and other friends of her parents who had both been with Starfleet.

She'd yet to reveal to him the reason for her seemingly unbreakable desire to protect her career, but he suspected it had something to do with her parents. Only time would tell whether he was correct. For now, he merely wondered why she'd brought up such a touchy subject regarding her past without him pressing for information.

People did nothing out of the kindness of their hearts, nor did the offer up pieces of themselves without expecting something in return. Claims could be made that there were a few genuinely good people in the world, but in his experience that just wasn't the case and was nothing more than a lie meant to help people sleep at night.

How many times had he been told by scientists, soldiers, and the woman who wished to be called his mother in his youth that they only wished to help him succeed, to be the best of the Chrysalis Program? How many times did they claim that they had his best interests at heart when in reality they wanted to turn him into the leader of their own personal super-soldier army that they could keep on a short leash?

And after his escape with his fellow Augments?

He'd seen firsthand how good deeds and kindness were merely ways to get at something someone else wanted, whether it be a worldly possession or information. Even the man who had befriended him, Gary Seven, had used him to one degree or another and was willing to kill him simply because Khan had his own way of doing things.

In turn, Khan too warped kindness and good deeds into ways to achieve his own personal goals. That trait had always been a part of him, but in the years prior to his reign that trait had become far more prominent until it was wholly ingrained into his very being.

And thus he knew that Alice something up her sleeve. It was the only explanation for her revealing something she need not reveal, and he wasn't falling for it.

"Doctor," Khan drawled wearily, setting the framed photo down. "Do you wish for me to confide in you based on your perceived belief that I underwent some sort of trauma, just as you were traumatized by no family wishing to keep you for more than a few months, with the exception of one? You are mistaken if you believe I would reveal information privy only to myself for you to use to advance your career."

She flinched ever so slightly at his words, but otherwise barely reacted, having expected such a reaction from him. "Despite our… situation," she began in regards to their deal. "I do give a damn about my patients, even you to certain degree despite the fact that you can be a cold hearted ass with total disregard for the feelings of others. If I didn't care, I promise you that I wouldn't have told you what I did, nor would I still be sitting here wasting my breath in an attempt to convince you that I genuinely do want to know what happened and… why you are the way you are – outside of the fundamentals of your genetic engineering."

He frowned. "You expect nothing in return? Am I to take that as truth?"

"Take it however you want," she replied with a shrug. "I'm merely letting you know that I understand trauma and the loss of family, and I'm willing to listen to anything you have to say about, well, anything."

It was difficult to tell whether Alice was lying on occasion seeing as she was very good at it, probably something she had to learn to be good at during her years in some particular unfriendly foster families, but the truth was the hardest to tell with her, especially when what she claimed to be the truth was something that he wasn't used to hearing as anything but a lie. One thing he did take notice of, however, was that sometimes she took notes on her PADD whenever they talked, and sometimes she didn't. This was one of those times where she didn't.

Could that be an indication that she was being truthful and not out to gain information for the benefit of her career, but that she was instead just looking to be kind and wanted nothing from him in return?

As he opened his mouth to make some sort of reply, though he wasn't sure what exactly he was going to say, the console at Alice's door beeped as someone requested entry.

She sighed, standing to answer the door, and when it slid open to reveal two burly men in black uniforms, she said to Khan, "You're friends are here. Looks like our session is over."

"It would appear so," Khan replied as he stood, feeling something akin to disappointment. The conversation was not one he wanted to have, but the curiosity he now felt towards Alice's words left him wishing to continue it.

As well as to demand a rematch of chess.

* * *

Staring at the door after it slid shut behind Khan, Alice went over to the book he'd left behind and began flipping through the pages to find what he wanted next, planning to read it later.

She had to wonder if her change of attitude would have the desired effect on Khan, or if it was just a waste of time. It was obvious that he reacted to hostility, and her challenging him had intrigued him, but it occurred to her a few days ago that Khan had been around people using him, behind hostile to him, and kneeling down to kiss his boots all his life.

Had there been one instance in that man's life where someone just... acted decently without asking for anything in return?

Carol told her more than once that when not working, Alice was friendly and quite enjoyable to be around. Maybe if she injected a little bit of "Alice" into her dealings with Khan and less "Doctor Walsh" she'd see a different side to him.

And so she'd been trying to loosen up and bit more approachable and less cold, though she still challenged him because that was just who she was, and she noticed that he'd stare at her as if trying to figure her out more often than he used to and would study her in silence or try purposefully to irritated her into lashing out. She couldn't tell if he liked this change or not, so today was the first day she chose to reveal something personal about herself without asking for anything from him.

Talking about her time in foster care, no matter how vaguely, was something that brought an ache to her heart, the memories painful even to this day. She hadn't particularly wanted to tell him a damn thing about it, or to anyone else for that matter, but she truly felt that if she were going to ask him to discuss something that obviously bothered him she should tell him something as well. If he opened up to her, that was great, if not, that was fine. She wasn't going to demand that he talk about it if he didn't want to, though she wasn't going to give up on asking once in a while, and she certainly was going to remind him regularly that she did in fact care.

Alice wasn't entirely sure why she cared. Maybe it was because a lot of the terrible things he did were based off of his genetic engineering, or perhaps it was because he'd lost his family. Then again, maybe it was a bit of both, coupled with the fact that in all honesty he wasn't terrible to be around.

When they weren't at each other's throats or discussing things pertaining to her evaluations, he could be decent to be around, even enjoyable to a degree. Something she'd even come to enjoy quite measurably was their time playing chess. The game had always been her favorite, and Khan was an incredibly challenging opponent. To have finally beat him, even if she had to get his mind off the game itself, was a huge victory that had her grinning at the time and smiling now.

Once she put together the words in the book that Khan had scraped his nail over, she nodded to herself and made a mental note to go out in the next day or two to get the next book for him before getting back to work.

* * *

_**Review, please! Reviews let me know that you wish for more!**_

**A/N: _As of July 31, I am still suffering from a major case of writer's block. I'm doing my best to finish the next chapter, but I can't say for sure when the next update will come._ **

...

**Works In-Progress****:**

**Star Trek**_** ~ "The Choices We Make"... **_**Khan/OFC**_**  
**_

**Falling Skies ~ _"The Ties That Bind"..._ Ben/OFC**

**Carriers**_** ~ "Fate of the Chosen"... **_**Brian/OFC**_**  
**_

**Legion ~ _"Salvation Falls"... _Michael/OFC  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **_**Finally got out of my financial issues and writer's block! That being said, I've started a new job that has me working longer hours and am having some other issues going on, so until I get settled I can't say for sure how often updates will come, but I'll try to update sooner. As always, if there is going to be a significant delay I'll leave a note at the end of the chapter.**_

_**And I nearly jumped out of my seat when reviews hit 200, and they are now at 217! I'm so very happy you all are enjoying this fic!  
**_

* * *

"Any plans for Christmas?" Carol asked, sitting at a table in a small restaurant. "Or do you plan on working straight through the holidays?"

Glancing up from her PADD, Alice shrugged. "I sincerely doubt your father will be inclined to give me a day off, even if I were deathly ill. Besides, I really don't mind hanging around down below as much as I did when I started."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "There are a few decent people down there."

"Would Harrison be one of them?" Carol questioned curiously.

Alice hesitated momentarily.

Starting off, she would have gone out of her way to not spend any more time with Khan than she had to, but now she looked forward to their sessions and shadowing him during his work to see how he acts with others. There games of chess were always quite enjoyable, especially now that he knew that she was capable of beating him even if she had to resort to playing mind games to get him off track. In fact, she would go so far to say that the game was made all the more fun now.

When not trying to manipulate her or be an intimidating superhuman, he could be quite a decent man.

"Yes," she agreed after a moment. "Yes, I guess Harrison would be one of them."

Smiling fractionally, sipping her glass of wine, Carol asked, "That night at the club all you could do was complain about the man, and now you consider him to be decent? What changed?"

"You know, I honestly don't know," she admitted with a light laugh, shaking her head, pushing around the remains of her dinner with her fork. "Guess it's just been a few things here and there that have changed my view of him a bit. I can't say that I trust him, but I don't dislike him either, and that's something right there. Besides, we both enjoy playing chess, although I've only beat him once."

"Just once? Here I thought you were a pro at chess."

"I am, he's just better," she grudgingly admitted.

"It isn't too fun to be bested at something, is it Ali?" Carol teased, laughing when her friend glared at her. Still smiling, she added, "I'm just happy you're no longer complaining about the man. My God, if I heard one more rant I swear I was going to smack you with that PADD of yours."

Alice kicked Carol's foot lightheartedly, but did not deny the fact that she had complained about Khan quite a bit. Probably too much, if she were to be completely honest. But it was hardly unwarranted, and there were times when she wanted to strangle him for his rudeness and God-complex. She truly wished that he would just see past what he was told from birth and past his superior genetics, and realize that deep down he was still human just like her and the rest of humanity. That felt like too much to ask for from him, however, especially when he was so content and proud of who he was and how he acted.

Still, what kind of person would she be if she didn't at least try?

"By the way… have you thought about what I asked you in that club?"

Alice closed her eyes, taking a calming breath. "Yes, Carol, I've thought about it."

"And?"

"And I don't want to risk my career too much give that I'm on thin ice," she replied. "There's something about those torpedoes that no one wants me to know about, especially Harrison. If I go digging around too much, I feel that a reprimand will be the least of my worries. I could get into some serious trouble."

Carol nodded solemnly. "I understand."

"But," Alice continued, glancing around nervously before leaning a little closer. Carol was her best friend, and she wanted to help in some way if she could. "I might be able to get you some information on something else."

"Tell me," Carol urged, perking up at the prospect of any kind of information.

"I've been hearing things about some ship being built, whispers mostly, and everyone usually shuts up the moment they see me, but it doesn't seem to be as closely guarded as information on the torpedoes, which I really don't understand. From what I've gathered, the ship's called the _Vengeance_, and it's being built somewhere other than Earth," she explained quietly, nervously. "I caught sight of some information the first week I went to work with Harrison, and he was quick to get the PADDs for both it and the torpedoes out of my sight. Whatever this ship is meant for, I'm not entirely sure it's in line with Federation guidelines."

"I would think my father and everyone working under him would be more secretive about a ship than weapons."

Alice nodded. "So would I, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Harrison almost seems to have a personal interest invested in the torpedoes and has kept everything about them hidden from me, as have everyone else, but no one is as careful about this ship. Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe they're just afraid to piss off Harrison by discussing the torpedoes, I don't know. But with all that being said, I've told you everything I know about it."

"That's not much to go on, Alice," Carol commented, excitement dimming to a simmer.

"I said they weren't being as secretive about it, I never said they left information lying around or talked in anything but hushed voices."

"Point taken." Worrying on her lower lip, she asked, "You said you might be able to get me some information about it?"

Tucking a lock of blond hair that had fallen from the lose bun on her head, she replied, "Maybe, yes. I've befriended one of the men in security at the front desk, and I might be able to get him to let me into one of the labs where I've heard that parts for the ship are being made. With any luck and a bit of persuasion, I might be able to get in and take a peek."

"Just do so carefully, all right? My father isn't a bad man, but the last thing you want is to make him feel betrayed, believe me."

"Weren't you the one who said he wasn't the kind of man to blackmail a person?" she stated, recalling their discussion when they'd gone to the club.

She stared at her. "I still don't believe he would do something like that to you, but I do know that he is very proud and demands loyalty."

"In short, he's a good man with issues," Alice snorted, shaking her head. "Sounds like someone else I know."

"Sounds like most of the _men _I know," Carol said with a slight smile.

Alice had to smile at that, nodding her head in agreement.

Most of the men in Starfleet were good men, but all that she'd met had issues in some way, shape, or form. Only she had been thinking of Khan when she made the comment.

In truth, he didn't seem like a genuinely bad man because in his mind what he was doing was to benefit people. He'd just gone about it the wrong way. Virtually enslaving "lesser beings" in an act of tyranny, no matter how well he treated them, was still wrong. But he'd looked out for all under his reign more so than the other Augments did. She hadn't been kidding when she said that he'd really had the potential to be a hero among men if he hadn't turned to villainy.

Deep down, she really did believe that Khan might be a good man, but the issues he had would likely never allow him to be truly good.

However, she did not think he and Marcus were similar in anyway. If anything, she trusted Khan more than Marcus.

Glancing at her watch, Alice sighed. "I should be getting back. My evening session with Harrison starts soon."

"All right," Carol said, rising. Giving her friend a hug, she added, "A couple of friends of mine are going to be throwing a party on Christmas Eve. Nothing big, just dinner and some music along with a gift exchange, very casual. You should think about coming."

It was tempting, the notion of getting away for a while in a safe environment, so she nodded. "All right, I'll let you know within the week."

After settling up on their bill, the two went their separate ways, Carol walking down the street as Alice hailed a cab. Were it not sleeting outside and was only snowing, she'd have walked to 31. She loved the snow, she had ever since she was a child, and it would be nice to just go walk in it at some point. Next time it snowed, maybe she would take some time to go to Regents Park given that she'd only been there once before.

Staring out the window for another few minutes, she sighed and eventually turned her attention to the purse she held in her laps. She dug around inside it before pulling out the newly purchased book.

Tapping her fingers on the cover, she prayed it didn't fall apart on her. It was quite old, as were most of the books Khan requested. Some of them were still being printed, but most she had to go digging for since a majority were now only available on PADDs and other devices, paperback books nearly a thing of the past. It could be hassle, trying to find what he wanted, but she was happy to put in the effort when he was holding true to his end of their bargain.

He'd followed through and managed to get her a little bit of information that would be terrible for Marcus if it got out, but it wasn't enough for her to reveal to Pike and the others yet.

The cab arrived at the Kelvin Archives a short time later, and Alice hurried inside with the book back in her purse, not wanting to get wet.

She exchanged a quick greeting with security before being permitted to pass through into the elevator that took her bellow, and as soon as she stepped out she knew something wasn't right. That being said, she couldn't trust him. The moment she stopped providing him with what he wanted or if he grew bored of it all, he would break off their deal and she'd be left to deal with Marcus on her own. There was really no telling how long he would continue to follow through with his end of their deal, but she hoped to God that he wouldn't do so any time soon.

Even so, she had come to not mind his company much at all, even if she didn't trust him.

Looking up from his station as she arrived, Steve snapped in a hushed tone, "Damn it, Alive, don't you answer your communicator?"

"I left it in my room by mistake," she explained, frowning. "What's going on?"

"Commander Doyle stormed through a few minutes ago, and I saw on the feed that he went straight to your quarters and let himself in. He's been tearing the place apart for the last ten minutes!"

Dread settled in her gut and she hurried with her security clearance before running down that corridors to her quarters, desperately hoping the man didn't find something to hint to her deal with Khan, or anything else he might not like. She'd been incredibly careful, but something had raised his suspicions.

Nearly running into a handful of people along the way, she managed to avoid contact with most of them, though her shoulder did connect with a few unlucky enough to get out of her way. Ignoring the onslaught of snaps and shouts for her to slow down, she only picked up the pace.

Reaching her door at last, she hurriedly punched in the code and stepped inside only to because frozen with shock, the door sliding shut behind her.

Her place was an utter mess!

All of her clothes had been thrown from her dresser, the contents of the fridge and cabinets were on the table, the sheets had been ripped from her bed, her toiletries were on the floor in the bathroom, and every single book was bent in odd angles on the floor with some pages torn from them lying beside them.

And amidst the mess, sitting on her couch with a mess of book pages in his hands, was Commander Doyle.

Seeing red, she stormed over and demanded, "What the hell is the meaning of this?"

"I've gotta say, doc, I didn't peg you for a big reader," he commented tightly, and she could feel the rage radiating from him. "And yet you've been going out and buy books weekly since our little… meeting in the club, and you've gone out of your way to find paperbacks and hardcovers. Don't tell me I turned you into a book worm?"

Alice hesitated.

She'd taken a peek at Doyle's file, and what she'd read made her surprised that he hadn't been booted from Starfleet yet. He had a nasty of habit of going from calm to furious in an instant, the smallest things triggering his near violent temper. There was no diagnosis of OCD, bipolar disorder, or anything else, but all the signs were there in her eyes. It occurred to her that maybe Marcus had pulled some strings to keep the young man in Starfleet as his right hand, and that spelled trouble for her.

In the club, she saw him as a cold, calm, twisted bastard who lightheartedly drugged and threatened her. Now, she was witnessing a whole new, far more dangerous side that sent her heart hammering nervously.

Feeling as though she were dealing with a ticking time bomb from how red his face was and the shaking of his hands, Alice reigned in her anger and calmed her tone. "There isn't much to do down here, and I don't know many people in London. What's the problem with reading?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all," he replied. A second later, he snatched a book and threw it at her whilst nearly shouting, "Except every single one of these damn books have been read by Khan before you even touched them!"

The book hit her square in the chest and she was grateful that it was a worn down paperback and not a hardcover with the force of his throw.

Angrily, he picked up the mess of papers he'd been looking over and demanded, "All these have dog-eared pages and even a little kid would know that these are some lousy pages to stop on. I've watched you both on the cameras, and after he gives you a book you go through and fix the pages he's bent after staring at it for a minute. It takes you too damn long to fix them, so I'm inclined to believe that you're not buying these books for the sheer pleasure of it or letting him borrow them simply because he's interested in reading."

It was as if she were back in foster care being cornered by a particularly violent foster dad who was furious with her for accidentally chipping the paint on one of his model cars when she'd gone to play with them, not knowing any better. The end result was a black eye and bloody nose that saw to her being taken out of the home after a teacher called social services. Violence was something she'd been on the receiving end of a great many times as a young girl, and she recognized the signs of brewing physical violence within Doyle.

Careful to choose her words carefully to appease the man in front of her without revealing her and Khan's agreement, she said slowly, hating how her voice quaked, "Khan has nothing to do down here. Even the most hardened criminals in prison need _something_ to do. By allowing him access to my books and regularly buying them, I'm giving him some form of entertainment. It's beneficial not only for him, but for all of us."

He smirked menacingly at her, and she gulped. "You know, doctor, I really don't believe you," he stated coldly. "What are you and Khan up to?"

"I swear I'm not –" Before she could finish her sentence, Doyle snapped and lunged for her, grabbing her roughly by the throat and slamming her back against the wall hard enough to knock the air from her lungs.

Panic welling up inside her, she reached up to push at his chest and claw at his hands, gasping desperately for breath as he dragged her up the wall until she had to stand on her toes, her heels slipping from the back of her high heeled shoes.

"You swear, huh?" he questioned, helping himself to her purse on her shoulder. Digging through it, he yanked out the book within and shoved it in her face. "Color me surprised."

"I... I was out with Carol and thought I'd get something new so I…" she trailed off in a strangled squeak as his hand squeezed tighter, causing her face to redden with the loss of circulation.

"Nice alibi, your friend Carol," he ground out. "She'd stand up for you no matter what, wouldn't she? Christ, between you, Marcus' brat, and that sorry excuse of a Captain on the _Enterprise_ it's a wonder Starfleet is still standing! What this place needs is a clean slate and a firm hand, something Admiral Marcus is striving for, and so help me if you fuck things up for him…" He tightened his hold painfully until black spots dotted her vision as she tried in vain to breathe. "Now, since I've given you some proper incentive on what will happen if you lie to me, I'll give you one last chance to tell me the truth as one Commander to another – are you and Khan up to anything that has to do with these books, anything at all? Because air is an issue for you right now, feel free to blink once for yes and twice for no."

The thought to just come clean instantly crossed her mind for fear that he was playing her and truly knew what was going on. If she lied, she feared that he'd truly snap her neck or strangle the life from her.

Had Marcus permitted him to kill her if she disobeyed?

She'd assumed that something bad would happen, but murder?

Panic didn't help he situation any, and she continued clawing at his hands, desperate for air that he wouldn't allow until he got his answer.

Her door beeped and both knew that it was Khan and his security escorts on the other side.

Khan was always punctual, and she was more than thankful for it this time around.

But God, what would Khan think when he saw the disarray of her place and the marks that would undoubtedly be on her throat? She didn't even want to think about how she would explain the bruises that would form to everyone.

The door beeped again, and Doyle leaned in close. "I'm waiting."

As her vision swam, she blinked once, and then she blinked again.

No.

It was not the answer Doyle had been wanting, and she swore he was going to crush her neck with how hard he grasped her. And then he dropped her without so much as fair warning, stepping back.

Dropping to her knees, Alice coughed violently, sucking in gulps of precious air as she held her tender throat. Sweat beaded her forehead and she felt terribly dizzy as the blood rushed back to her head and air filled her once desperate lungs, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her on her knees from fear or injury. She very carefully pulled herself to her feet, holding on to the arm of the counter beside her for balance as her body shook with the aftershocks of panic fueled adrenaline.

"I'm going to assume that you're not stupid enough to lie to me," Doyle bit out, glaring at her. "You'd better be thankful that the Admiral thinks you're useful. But if I so much as _think_ you've lied to me, I'll make sure Marcus agrees that you're up to something and I will finish what I started."

Alice blinked at him through her still hazy vision, realization coming to her.

He must have brought his concerns to Marcus, and Marcus mustn't have believed him. That was why he'd come tearing through her quarters and resorted to strangling her in an attempt to learn the truth. Doyle knew something was up, but Marcus didn't think anything was out of the ordinary. that must have been the trigger for Doyle's violent episode.

That, she now knew, was why he'd really let her go.

She hadn't given him the proof he needed, and Marcus still needed her working with Khan.

"Don't worry," she rasped, wincing from the pain in her throat. "I won't give Marcus reason to doubt me."

Doyle ground his teeth at her jibe, tensing all the more when the door beeped yet again. Tossing the book from her purse onto the floor, he stormed over to the door and opened it.

Hissing open, Khan and two security officers were revealed, and Alice had never been so happy to see the Augment in her life. At least he was reason enough to get Doyle to leave so she could continue her work or something.

Scanning the chaos that was now her room, Khan looked impassively to the Commander and asked with curious contempt, "Am I intruding?"

"The doctor and I were just having a little discussion," Doyle replied curtly, not bothering to mask his open hostility this time around.

"So I see." Khan looked over the man's shoulder at Alice, and his impassiveness changed to concern as he saw her holding her neck, involuntary tears streaking down her flushed cheeks.

Hastily, she wiped the evidence of her fear away, cursing herself for crying, and turned her back to Khan to begin cleaning up the mess Marcus' lackey had made of her place.

"I'm certain that Admiral Marcus would not be pleased to hear that the doctor he has assigned to me is being bullied by his First Officer," Khan commented tightly. "Not when such actions against my doctor could hinder my abilities to properly accomplish the tasks Marcus has given me."

Alice glanced over at the two men and took in the tense posture of both. Were the environment different, she was certain they'd be throwing punches, the testosterone so thick.

Eying him coldly, Doyle replied, "Marcus has given me permission to handle any situation involving you and Dr. Walsh as I see fit, permitted they remain within his preset perimeters, as they have. How I see fit is of little concern of the likes of _you_, and I fail to see how her well-being affects your work."

So, Marcus was okay with physical violence. That sent a twinge of fear up her spine.

"Dr. Walsh is assigned to evaluate me and shadow me, and thus how she is treated is in fact my concern. If she is not at her best, how can I believe that she will be accurate in her evaluations? That uncertainty may cause me unneeded stress," he explained casually, though Alice knew that the notion of being stressed by her state was just an excuse to irk the Commander. "You would do well not to torment her further."

"Or what?" Doyle pressed, taking a threatening step closer, irritated by his mere presence.

Khan didn't rise to the bait and his cold, pale blue eyes remained locked on the Commander's for a few long seconds until Alice saw Doyle fidget ever so slightly from intimidation, shifting his footing, and it brought a slight smirk to her face.

With a tone that was dangerously low, expressing his cold intent, Khan warned, "Lay a hand on her again, and I will see to it that it is the last time you ever do so."

Alice didn't know who was more stunned by Khan's very clear threat, Doyle or herself. She expected Khan to act defensive of what had happened because she was his doctor and, as he said, he required her at his best. But for him to make a threat like that… she didn't know what to make of it, and clearly neither did Doyle.

Shaken, grinding his teeth, the Commander hissed, "Try it. Give me a reason to have you put down along with your crew."

A look passed over Khan's face, a look that resembled utter concern and worry, but it was gone as soon as it came. Still, it made Alice wonder what had brought on that look. Surely Khan could hold himself in a fight with the Commander. But it was how Doyle phrased his threat that confused her.

With a deceptively friendly smile, Khan replied, "If you don't mind, Commander, I have a session with Dr. Walsh."

Clenching his fists, Doyle said not one word as he stomped past Khan and made his leave down the hall.

The two men behind him looked at each other, uncertain of what to do about the situation, but eventually the one to the right nodded for Khan to step inside as they took position outside in the hallway.

The door slid shut, and at last the two were alone.

Never had Alice felt dumped into a more awkward situation in her life, and she didn't know whether or not to thank Khan for what he said or demand his intentions for defending her. He didn't do anything without expecting something in return, so she had to wonder what he wanted for saying what he did to Doyle.

Whatever the reason, she was entirely flustered, sore, and emotionally shaken, and needed at least some form of order and control within the room that was supposed to belong to her during her stay in Section 31.

Shaking, still uneasy on her feet, she set to work on cleaning up the mess Doyle made, starting with returning her undergarments to their drawer. The very thought that he'd gone through her bra and pantie drawer made her downright ill.

"Are you going to explain what that was all about?" Khan questioned, taking the liberty of walking around her room, examining the mess.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pick up the photo of her and her parents in the garden of lilies that was in the mess in the center of the room with the shattered vase, the glass badly cracked and the wood frame chipped and scratched. Doyle had probably thrown it into her vase.

Khan stared at it for a long moment with an expression Alice couldn't read before he finally came to stand beside her and set it back in its rightful place on her dresser, careful not to do more damage to it.

She bit her lip as she stared at it, hating how damaged one of her most prized possessions looked, and mumbled a quietly "thank you" before moving away from him to get back to cleaning.

Keeping her eyes locked on the pages she was busy picking up, she replied to his earlier question, voice still hoarse and throat aching and dry, "He noticed that I was buying a lot of books and letting you read them before I touched them, and thought something was off about it because of where you stopped reading and dog-eared the pages. Apparently, being nice is now cause for paranoia, along with one's choice of where to stop reading." She had to watch what she said, fully expecting he'd check the footage later. "Seems to think we're working together for whatever ridiculous reason."

Khan stared at her before shaking his head as he walked across her quarters, playing along and smirking in dry amusement but saying nothing. She didn't expect him to say anything, and that was what made it believable, though she did wonder why he'd taken to rummaging through her freezer.

The thought passed her by as she coughed, rubbing her unbelievably sore neck. She noticed her toiletries all over the bathroom floor and figured it was as good excuse as any to flee for a few minutes, to just lock herself away to collect herself.

Rising to her feet, she walked to the bathroom, kicking off her heels in the process. She became keenly aware of heavy footsteps behind her and tensed, but she did not turn around as she entered the bathroom. Her focus was on picking up some of the items from the sink and then getting the ones from the floor as soon as possible so she could find an excuse to close the door behind her.

But as she bent down to retrieve the makeup and whatnot, reaching up to find the controls for the door, Khan grabbed her wrist, stopping her and forcing her to turn around.

She opened her mouth to snap, to demand that he let her go as panic started returning, but instead she gasped when he placed a towel folded over some ice against her neck. It was beyond freezing, obviously, but felt unbelievably nice against her painfully sore neck.

"What are you doing?" she demanded quietly, noticing that with how close he was standing and the angle of his body in the bathroom doorway she would not be seen by the camera. If she talked quietly enough, she might not even be heard.

"Attempting to reduce the swelling," he explained plainly, pale eyes focused on her neck, the fair skin tinged bright red, soon to be replaced with bruises that would match Doyle's hand. With his thumb, he tilted her chin up slightly so as to better press the towel against the marred skin.

"And?"

His eyes flicked to hers. "And?"

"As you so elegantly put it once, you don't do things out of the kindness of your heart," she stated, holding onto the counter with one hand, forcing herself not to fidget. "What do you want?"

He said nothing at first, only knitted his brows in thought. "If I told you I wasn't sure, would you believe me?"

She blinked, unsure of his meaning, but replied with certainty, "No, I can't say that I would. You always know what you want, it's something you've been quite clear about – power, to once again rule, revenge, your version of peace. Now you say you aren't sure what you want? Why should I believe you?"

"You tell me to believe that I should trust that I can tell you anything without a thought of personal gain on your part, and yet you cannot take my word for not being sure of what I want anymore as truth?" he questioned. Only when she looked away guiltily did he add, "How do you expect me to trust you, when you cannot trust me?"

At that, she turned her eyes back to him. "I trust your reputation, Khan. You haven't given me one reason to suspect that you don't expect something in return somewhere down the road. Tell me I'm wrong."

"You're wrong."

"I don't believe you."

"It's true nonetheless."

She bit her tongue, biting back a retort. At this rate, they could be trying to get the last word for over an hour. Instead, she just shut her mouth, wishing she could say that she believed him, but she couldn't. Not a damn thing had been done on his part to make her believe that he wasn't up to something.

He was right about one thing, though.

If she couldn't trust him, why should she expect him to trust her?

"Does he know?" Khan asked quietly, voice hardly a whisper, diverting from the original conversation.

She shook her head slightly, shooting him a glare when he grasped her jaw gently to hold her head still as he moved the towel. "He doesn't think I'm stupid enough to lie after he tried to choke me, but we have to be more careful," she mouthed, barely making a sound, not trusting herself to actually speak the words that could have Doyle returning.

The Augment merely nodded slowly, his focus never wavering from her bruising neck.

Growing increasingly uncomfortably with the unbelievable close proximity, the combination of the cold ice and his intense body heat making her head spin, she reached up to take the towel and ice from him. She frowned when he didn't readily let go, and she noticed something flash in his eyes that was akin to frustration and disappointment.

"What does it matter if I trust you or not?" she questioned, frustrated herself with the circles they kept running in. "You've made it clear that you don't trust me."

"Have I?" he inquired, cocking a dark brow at her. "And was has brought you to this conclusion?"

Alice blinked. "Your attitude makes it pretty damn clear, as well as your actions. Everything you've done prior and after waking up proves to me that you do nothing without expecting personal gain and are willing to kill the people helping you once their use has run out."

"I just aided you without getting anything in return, didn't I?" he asked, sounding almost insulted that she wasn't more grateful.

She nodded, but said in a tight whisper, "Yes, and now I'm going to be paranoid over what they hell you want from me in the future."

Lips pursed and eyes narrowing, Khan released the towel and stepped away from her with not another word. He was angry, frustrated, and insulted, that much was clear to Alice and she fought the guilt that welled up in her chest.

But really, could she expect anything other than cold ulterior motives from Khan? He'd given her very few reasons, if any, to expect otherwise.

Until now.

Staring at him as he waited with a deceivingly calm posture in the center of the room, she had to wonder if he had in fact stood up for her just because as opposed to doing so in order to get something from her. With most people, she could tell something like that, but Khan was so incredibly difficult to read and that scared her more than a little bit, especially when she knew how dangerous he was.

Looking around her quarters, holding the icy towel to her neck, she sighed and said, "I'm afraid I'll have to cancel our session, Khan. This mess requires my immediate attention, and I'm just not up to dealing with you at the moment."

"I assure you, doctor," Khan began coldly, leveling her with an expression that made her nearly fidget. "The feeling is mutual."

She flinched, that comment stinging more than a little bit.

He escorted himself to the door where he pressed the button on the console. It hissed open and he stepped out, making his way down the hall while the two men waiting looked a little surprised that it had ended so early.

It slid shut, and Alice padded over to the couch and fell onto it with a heavy sigh, tossing the towel onto the table and sending ice all over it. She cared little about it and let her elbows rest on her knees with her head in her hands, utterly exhausted by the day's events.

Both she and Khan were at a stalemate, each expecting the other to trust them for some reason but unwilling to trust the other, and Alice wasn't sure what the end result of this mess she'd found herself in would be, or if she could allow herself to trust him just a little bit when trusting him could possibly do her more harm than good.

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_**Review, please! Reviews let me know that you wish for more!**_

**_As of August 28, m_**_**y work schedule has a bit chaotic because where I work because I am the only one available for the morning/afternoon shift due to high school starting back up for my teenage coworkers, thus I've been exceptionally exhausted by the time I get home at 5pm. But I am writing whenever I'm able to. Should be a week or so before there is an update.  
**_

**A/N: _Their little deal with the books and whatnot could only go undetected for so long, and I felt that I needed to make Doyle's issues and dilemma with Marcus regarding how things are being handled with Khan and Alice more evident. _**

_**As for Khan's reaction to Alice being hurt, is he being helpful and caring because he's got something up his sleeve, or did their conversation in the last chapter have an actual impact on him? I know which it is, but I'm curious to hear what you think!**_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **_**A majority of you all thought right on whether or not Khan's actions were genuine or if he had ulterior motives, and a lot of you weren't far off in your thinking of what I had planned for this chapter.**_

_**I kind of had to take a step back from this fic for a little bit to get a clear head on this chapter, as its kind of a turning point for Khan and Alice. I wanted to get it right. Not to mention I've been working my butt off lately to the point where I've just had too much to do and didn't want stress to impact my writing. **_

_**Also, I'd like to give a special thanks to **_**MugglebornPrincesa**_** for giving me an idea for this chapter involving the book **_**"The Gift of the Magi"**_** by O Henry.  
**_

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Given the nature of the holidays, Khan was hardly surprised that Section 31 was as vacant as it was. Whether permitted to take the night off or not was irrelevant to many because a majority of those who were supposed to work with him were nowhere in sight. Those who were present grumbled that they had to work at all while everyone else was off enjoying their Christmas Eve.

As far as Khan was concerned, it was all rather ridiculous and he had more important things to attend to than listening to everyone's complaints.

Standing before the various components of what would eventually be the first of the photon torpedoes, he worked to figure out how to get the cryotubes inside whilst still keeping the torpedoes functional. The notion of putting his people within active torpedoes was disconcerting to say the least, but if at any point in the final stages of development Marcus did not believe them to function properly, they'd be taken apart. Even if his crew had yet to be put inside, they hollowed out space would be a dead giveaway that Khan was up to something.

He studied the model on his PADD, glancing now and then to the bits and pieces before him, it occurred to him that he could have them built fully and completely, but alter the specifications for the fuel compartment. Once he was certain he'd be able to get his crew out, he could remove the fuel containers and replace them with the cryotubes. It was the only possible solution he could think of, but to do it he would need assistance, and that was where the real problem was because it was Alice's assistance he would need.

Setting aside the PADD, he braced his hands on the work station before him and sighed.

Alice was the singularly most irritating woman he had ever met, as well as the most ungrateful. After she was nearly choked to death by Doyle, he'd made an open threat to the Commander that if he ever hurt her again he would kill him, and then he even attempted to help Alice by examining and holding some ice to her neck. Her reaction had been less than savory, even hostile and rude, and it burned him that she had not even thanked him or acknowledge that he'd had her back in that situation.

In retrospect, however, he'd have been rather disappointed if she'd bowed to him in thanks like he would have expected from any of his subjects during his rule. That just wasn't the Alice he knew and respected. She was strong willed, determined, smart, and had a manipulative streak that intrigued him quite a bit and made her challenging. But she was also compassionate and held no ill will towards his history, though she didn't trust him because of it. She claimed that she trusted his history, and that his history and actions after waking from cryo told her that he was just being good to her in order to hold something over her head.

She wasn't entirely wrong in her way of thinking.

The initial intent he'd had with speaking up and threatening Doyle was to make Alice believe that he would help her when she needed it even if she didn't ask for his help. He couldn't afford to have the doctor injured or frightened when she was so vital to his overall plan. If he could make her believe that she could count on him, he knew he'd be able to eventually turn the tables and get her to in turn aid him by causing her into thinking of all the times he stepped in to aid her. His reason for helping her had been based off his intent to guilt her onto his side later on, but now he wasn't sure he could follow through due to the unforeseen ulterior motivations that had caused something in his chest to stir, something he had not anticipated and was not entirely welcomed.

Of everyone he'd come into contact with since waking, Dr. Alice Walsh was the one individual who's intent was not to use him. She was shadowing him on Marcus' orders, but there was little about her actions that were for personal gain. In fact, the only time he could recall her attempting to truly do anything against him was when she bribed him whatever he wanted as long as he gave her information that would be damning for Marcus if it were released, something he was relatively content to comply with. As prickly, annoying, and bitter as she could be, Alice was likely the one person not like him to whom he held no ill will towards and thus he'd gone beyond what he'd intended to do in regards to helping her.

That photo of her family laying shattered and chipped on the floor hadn't sat well with him when he knew how she lost them, resulting in a terribly rough childhood, and he'd retrieved it from the floor for her and put it back on the dresser. The result was her tearing up, biting her lip, and looking close to losing her composer as she expressed her quite thanks.

When she retreated to the bathroom to clean up and be alone, he had no reason to follow, his job of standing up for her over and done with, yet he felt compelled to aid her further in some way. So he got some ice and went to her with the hopes to ease some of the pain caused from having Doyle choke her. He hadn't expected to feel so infuriated by Doyle physically harming Alice, nor was that drive to help her beyond what was necessary something he completely understood.

Khan did not want to see Alice hurt, that much was clear to him, but it was the "why" that made him question things and refuse to speak during their sessions following the incident. He never knew how to act around that woman because he'd never met a woman like her, willing to challenge him but also readily showing compassion and an understanding of a past she did not agree with. To use her was his full intention, to end her life when all was said and done was something he greatly considered doing, but even that no longer sat well with him.

For the first time in a very long time, Khan was truly conflicted on how to proceed with his plans as far as Alice was concerned.

"Harrison," called one of his assigned guards, fully aware that he was Khan but using his alias on Marcus' orders. "Walsh is on her way out to some party but wants to talk with you first. She's waiting in your quarters."

He sighed, returning to his work. "This requires by current attention. She and I have already had our evening session."

"Too bad," the guard replied irritably, hand ready on his phaser. "She wants to see you _now_."

Muttering a silent oath, Khan retrieved the PADDs he had with him and allowed the guard to lead him back to his quarters with three others following close behind. It was strange that within the past ten minutes so many guards had taken to hanging around him when usually only two of the private security watched him. Nothing had been done on his part to warrant this increase in his security so he couldn't say for sure what the cause of this was.

The walk back to his quarters seemed to drag on endlessly as he had other things he wished to attend to regarding the torpedoes, but in fact the walk to the elevators and the ride up to the living quarters was a rather short journey. In no time at all he was standing outside his quarters while the guard who told him that Alice wanted to see him punched in the code to unlock the door from the outside, different from the one used to unlock it from within.

Stepping into his cell, he spotted Alice sitting in a chair with her ankles crossed, a bag filled with wrapped presents on the floor to her right, her purse on the coffee table, and her black leather coat draped over the back of the chair.

She looked up and stood to face him more fully the moment the door hissed open, and neither said a word after it closed. It looked to be based off nervous uncertainty on Alice's part, but for Khan he was slightly taken aback by her appearance. He had seen her dress as if she just rolled out of bed, professionally dressed in her gray dress uniform, weakened and desperate after being drugged, on the verge of cracking and angry after nearly being strangled to death, but this was the first time he'd seen her all done up and in an actual dress.

A deep shade of red, the dress was relatively simply and casual, the sleeves cutting off at her elbows. Despite its simplicity, Khan had no doubt that she would receive a fair amount of male attention at this party he was told she was going to. It was impossible for her not to receive attention with how tightly it hugged her slender figure, how it revealed just enough cleavage to tantalize the male eye without revealing too much, how her long legs were shown off due to the dress ending at mid-thigh. All the more stunning was the fact that she wore dark makeup around her eyes to enhance the dark green irises, though she wore no lipstick, and her blond hair down in soft curls as opposed to up in a messy ponytail or bun.

Overall, he'd seen women wearing far more impressive dresses and more makeup, but Alice looked absolutely stunning, if not a bit uncomfortable.

Shifting from one foot to the other, her black high heels off and resting beside her feet, Alice smoothed her hands down her dress and explained, "Carol told me it was just a casual Christmas party, but as it turns out it's been taken up a notch for photos and whatever." Self-consciously tucking her hair behind her hair, breathing out a frustrated sigh when the curls refused to cooperate, she muttered irritably, "I feel unbelievably ridiculous."

She most certainly did not look ridiculous, but he kept that opinion to himself for the time being and asked coolly, "What is it you want, Dr. Walsh?"

She flinched at his clipped tone. "Things have been a bit… tense between us since my confrontation with Doyle."

That was an understatement.

Hardly a word was spoken during their sessions following the incident. She was paranoid that he was up to something, perhaps even confused by it all, and he was angry and wounded that she wasn't more grateful. He was also unsure of what to make of the feelings brought forth by seeing her hurt and then being burned by her rudeness and relative lack of thanks.

Both of them had too much to sort out to be civil with each other, so they settled on silence, bringing whatever progress that had been made between them to a standstill.

"If you've come to speak of the obvious, you're wasting both my time and yours," he replied, walking over to the counter by the sink to set down the PADDs and get himself a glass of water.

"I guess it's a good think that's not what I came to do," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, that spark that had been vacant since the incident returning to her green eyes. "I came to apologize."

That brought Khan's action to an abrupt halt, his hand inches from a glass. He turned to face her, frowning, suspecting that she was playing him or something, but she appeared honest enough so he remained silent as she continued.

"Not only did you stand up to Doyle, but you also tried to help me by tending to my neck. Rather than thanking you, I accused you of only helping me for your own gain and that you would eventually hang the event over my head. As you said, I expect you to trust me when I expressed that I could trust nothing more about you other than your history." Taking a breath, her pride wounded, she admitted, "I was wrong and I shouldn't have acted the way I did. For that… I'm sorry. I truly am grateful for what you did, Khan."

An apology from her was the last thing he expected to hear. She was proud and would not have liked to express that she was wrong in what she said, yet here she was, openly and willingly apologizing for her behavior. For her to say that as well as express her gratefulness eased some of the tension and anger he felt towards her.

Uncomfortable with his prolonged silence, she added, "You should know that the security feed has been shut off for maintenance for the next hour. Not my doing this time, but hardly unwelcome. So, feel free to say whatever you want."

That must be why there was a sudden increase in his security and why she suddenly came to him out of the blue. Regardless, he did not want her to see that what she said and did affected him so much.

"Your apology is unnecessary," he drawled in a weary tone, forgoing the water and instead coming to stand directly in front of her, hoping to make her falter in some way. "However tense things have been, you're wrong in your assumption that an apology is needed. Were such a petty matter a bother to me, I'd have made it known."

"I think you're lying."

Khan's light blue eyes hardened and he took a small amount of pleasure in seeing her gulp. "And what leads you to believe that I am lying?"

Licking her suddenly dry lips, she explained, "You've been unfocused, exceedingly cold when we do talk, and have otherwise ignored me. I've also spoken to those working with you and they've stated that you've more unpleasant to work with than usual. You cannot stand there and tell me that my reaction didn't bother you."

"And if it did?" he questioned. "What concern is it of yours?"

"It's my concern because apart from being your doctor, I'm the only real friend you have down here or anywhere else for that matter."

He blinked. "Friend?"

"Yes," she replied sincerely, green eyes locking with his. "_Friend_. I can't say that I entirely trust you, and I think I'd be foolish to do so, but there have been instances where you've shown me a side of yourself that gives me hope that maybe I can eventually trust you somewhere down the road. Besides, I have to admit that I've grown to enjoy your company, however crazy that may seem." Leaning back slightly against the chair, she added, "That day when Doyle attacked me in my quarters, Carol and I were talking about decent men – good men with issues, to be specific. You're one of those men as far as I am concerned."

A good man?

Khan had been called many things in his life, but never a good man. There had been a few instances during his rule where he'd come to the aid of a lesser being if only to project that by following him they were safe, and they'd fearfully thank him, voicing that they believed him to be a great leader before hurrying away. To be called a good man was something new.

Deflecting away from his uncertainty and surprise, Khan replied dryly, "Better as I may be, I do believe the Commander cut off the blood flow to your head for too long if you believe me to be a good man, Dr. Walsh."

"Maybe," she admitted with a slight nod. "Maybe you truly weren't affected that I'd been so obviously hurt and threatened by Doyle, nor do you care. Hell, maybe I'm just wasting my time with you and you really are just a cold hearted bastard whose sole intent is to use me just like everyone else has been doing. But my gut tells me otherwise, and you know why?"

"Enlighten me," he urged with a cool, even tone when in fact he was quite curious.

"At one point, I told you that I believed your methods of ruling didn't work because you practically started the Eugenics Wars, causing the unnecessary death of the thousands, along with your crew after you went into exile. On the surface, you would appear to be a cold tyrant who cared about nothing more than power, control, and your own survival, ready to damn those around you in a heartbeat, but what I've learned from studying your history more closely and what I've witnessed personally proves differently to some extent," she explained, once again attempting to get the errant curl bothering her to stay behind her ear, frowning when it caught on her earring. "However wrong your methods were, to a certain degree you cared about _everyone _under your rule, Augmented and normal alike, and you tried to bring about a sort of peace."

Ever so slightly, he rolled his eyes at her reasoning. "If that is all you have to back up your theory, then I suggest you do not put a lot of stock in your gut feelings."

"_And_," she continued, ignoring his retort. "Every time you look at my neck your face hardens as if merely seeing the evidence of what Doyle did to me pisses you off."

At the mention of the incident, Khan's gaze traveled to her neck, feeling his blood slowly boil beneath the surface.

The fair skin of her throat was still bruised, marred with green and yellow bruises with shades of blue barely visible now, proof that Doyle had put as much force into his grip as he could without snapping her neck only nine days ago. No doubt coming up with a story for why they were they had been problematic for her.

Since the incident, he'd stolen glances at her neck and privately tracked the state of her bruises, but it was the first time since that day that she lost her hostility to him altogether. It was refreshing and welcoming to have the tension greatly reduced to where he didn't feel he had to watch his actions towards her so much.

Taking a step closer with barely a foot between them, he hooked his fingers under her chin and tipped her head upwards so he could better see how the bruises were healing. She offered no resistance and turned her head slightly, silently permitting him to examine what Doyle did. Unlike when he tried to help her, this time she did not fidget and did not look the slightest bit uncomfortable by his actions.

Khan gingerly pressed his fingers against one of the darker bruises and frowned when she winced. "You're still in pain?"

She shook her head slowly and replied, "A few spots are just a little tender, that's all."

He gave a slight nod in response, and the two fell silent for a moment as they both came to an agreement without needing to say anything, the actions providing the answers they needed.

By letting him be so close without having an adverse reaction to his presence, she confirmed that she truly was grateful for his help last time and was sorry for how she reacted. Not only that, but surely she had to trust him at least a little.

As for Khan, his silence and gentle examination of her neck was his way of confirming that her gut was right after all – he did care and did give a damn about her well-being, even if he was unwilling to voice it yet, and her apology did affect him. Like it or not, he had become attached to the woman in front of him, and her thoughts and opinions of him as well as her safety mattered. This brought on a curious thought that had passed through his mind on occasion but one he'd rarely voiced.

Now seemed as good a time as any, so he asked, "Why do you continue to submit yourself to the abuse of Marcus at the hands of Doyle? What is so important to you that he is using as leverage?"

Alice sighed softly and shrugged. "If I follow his orders, he'll see to it that my career is mended."

"And your career is so valuable that you will accept being harmed?"

She didn't answer immediately, instead taking a moment to consider his question. "To a point, yes, it is. I do plan to reveal to the other Admirals what he has done, but if I want my career to have a chance at getting through this intact, I have stay and do as I'm told for as long as possible."

He cocked his head, shifting his eyes from her neck to her own, and stated in mild irritation, "I have phrased the question differently but the core of it remains the same – _what _makes your career so important? Do not make me ask again."

A beat passed and Khan was certain she was going to deflect the question, avoid it at all costs or challenge him, but instead her shoulders sagged and her eyes turned downward, focusing on a spot on his black shirt that suddenly had her interest. "My parents were both Starfleet officers, my father a weapons specialist and my mother a medical officer. I would, uh, dress up in my mom's uniform and play pretend whenever I could. Things were great until shore leave came around and they decided to leave me with a family friend while they went off on a romantic vacation for an early anniversary. It was the first time they'd gone and left me behind, and I can't begin to tell you how mad I was. I wouldn't even come out of my room and tell them goodbye, I just pretended that I was asleep. A few days later, the lady watching me was contacted and informed that my parents and thirty-seven other humans had contracted an alien virus – they died along with twenty-four others. My grandmother was my only remaining family, but she was too old to take care of me and had too many issues of her own after Mom's death, so I was put in foster care and bounced back and forth on a regular basis. I was a bratty little kid not getting to go on vacation too, and I never got to tell them I was sorry," pausing to take a shaky breath, she shook her head at herself. "They'd always wanted me to enlist in Starfleet when I was old enough, I remember that much clearly, so when I developed a love for psychology that's what I went for in Starfleet. Guess enlisting was my way of trying to make up for how I acted the last time I saw them."

"And now you're fighting for your career not for yourself, but for them," Khan summed up, receiving a slow nodded from the woman before him.

Family was a powerful motivator, something he knew better than anyone, but though he could understand why she felt compelled to take the abuse from Marcus he believed that she was trying to make amends in the entirely wrong way.

In an attempt to use her emotions and current vulnerability to his benefit, as well as to comfort her because he did not like seen her breaking, Khan asked in a gentle tone, tipping her chin up so she would look at him, "And you believe that they would stand for their daughter being threatened and physically harmed by a Starfleet Admiral and his Commander? If that is how you see it, you are not as smart as I believe you to be."

"You think that I don't know that?" she demanded angrily, eyes brimming with unshed tears at confessing her reasons for following Marcus' orders and taking the abuse. "I know they would be furious with Marcus for what he is and might very well be ticked off that I'm still down here, but that's why I'm still here. I can't lose my career – I've worked too hard for it – but more than that I cannot let Marcus get away with what he's doing. My father would nail Marcus to the wall, and that is exactly what I'm going to do. I can only hope that doing so will earn me some points and I won't be discharged for what happened to O'Connor. For now, though, all I can do is play along until I have enough evidence so that he doesn't throw my career down the drain."

He stared at her, studying the angry spark in her green eyes, the tears that threatened to spill against her will. Any fool could see that her confession had been an honest one as opposed to a lie that might get him off the trail of something else. She was dedicated to bringing down Marcus, to wiping away the stain he had marred Starfleet with if only to make amends for how she'd acted towards her parents the last time she ever saw them before their death. As important as her career was to her, her actions with Section 31 were influence by her family. Her parents were dedicated to Starfleet, wishing for her to enlist just like she did, and thus her love for her parents and Starfleet went hand in hand. What she did in regards to her parents' memory was also done with the whole of Starfleet in mind.

But while both Khan and Alice wanted to bring Marcus down, he was well aware that they did not plan to go about it in the same manner. He wanted to kill Marcus and make him pay for what he was doing to him and his crew, but Alice intended on bringing his actions to the desks of the other Admiral and thus making him pay by tearing down his career. If all Khan wanted to do was humiliate and shame Marcus that plan would be decent enough, but he couldn't stand the thought of that man breathing any longer than he had to, so letting him live out the rest of his life, no matter how disgraced, was not an option.

Khan would have a difficult time convincing her that the man needed to die when the time came to reveal his plan to her, if he was able to convince such a strong willed woman at all.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Alice," Khan warned sincerely.

She snorted as she rubbed at her bruised neck. "So I've noticed, which is why I'm hoping your agreement to help me in exchange for whatever you want is still valid."

Had she thought otherwise?

"It is, I assure you. Though I suspect we will have to find another way for me to tell you want it is I want."

"I agree," she said with a nod. "But I can't think of anything, so feel free to pitch in."

Khan debated silently over what was the best way to proceed with their plans. Were they not constantly being watched and listened to, with the exception of times such as this, it would be so much easier, but that wasn't his real problem. What he really wanted, what he really _needed_, was a place to take refuge when the time came to escape. He would send his crew somewhere safe whilst they slept, but he would need a place to lay low for a day or two before making his way to the location he'd yet to choose for his crew. Once a location was chosen, he would find a way to get them aboard the _Vengeance_, a ship he intended to command once the time was right. Timing was everything, and he prayed his hand would not be forced.

Realizing he'd yet to answer Alice, he gave a mental shrug and replied, "A means of communicating in secret is of no use at the moment. There is only one thing that I ask you provide me with."

"Name it."

"A chance to venture to the surface," he replied. "If not only to stretch my legs and get away from this God-forsaken hole in the ground, I would very much like to see for myself how the world has changed. Images on a PADD only reveal so much."

A small, knowing smile tugged at her lips, a reaction he had not expected, and she said, "Actually, I'm already working on that." Smiling a bit wider at his look of confusion, she explained, "During my briefing with Marcus before I went to that club the other month, I requested that you be allowed out of 31 for a little while even if you had to be tailed by plain clothed security officers, and that I would take full responsibility in keeping track of you. He promised that at the five month mark of you being woken up – about two months from now – he would let you out if I could prove that you've made significant improvement and will not be a threat to anyone on the surface. Well, I suppose I should say that his actual words were that he would 'consider it', but I fully intend to hold true to my decision to escort you to the surface, with or without his permission."

Khan blinked, taken aback by her admission, as well as confused. "You just said that you needed to stay on his good graces until you were certain your career was safe and you had enough evidence against him, and yet you are willing to let me out of my cage even if he forbids it? You're contradicting yourself, Alice."

"Not necessarily," she argued with a wry smile. "He gave me a job to do and as your doctor I'm following through with a method of treatment I deem to be in your best interest. Such a long stay underground could quite possibly cause you mental stress, something that could prove dangerous for those around you if you should lose your temper. What I intend to do is not only for your best interest, but for the safety of those working with you."

Were Marcus really wishing for him to be rehabilitated, the plan might not be half bad. However, since he sincerely doubted the Admiral wished for him to be rehabilitated, the plan might backfire when he felt that Alice was perhaps little more than a pawn meant to try to keep him in line. Besides, he wasn't sure that just walking out and going against Marcus' orders was wise in his case, not with the lives of his crew at stake. In this case, he wanted her to gain the Admiral's permission.

Still, to play along with the notion sneaking off temporarily couldn't hurt at the moment.

"Clever, but I do not believe Marcus will see it that way if you disobey his order for me to remain down here," he commented dryly.

"Oh, I have no doubt about that, and that is where I will need your help."

He arched a brow and asked, "And what kind of help do you require?"

"I need you to behave," she replied seriously, all traces of her smile gone. "I don't care if you have to bite your tongue or scream into a pillow at the end of the day, but I need you to at least pretend that your desire for power and whatnot has been diminished if only slightly. In other words, play nice with Marcus and don't do anything to piss him or Doyle off. That'll prove that I am making progress with you, and if nothing happens while you are on the surface he'll believe that I am succeeding with my orders to help you become a functioning member of society. Hopefully that'll smooth things over with him if I do in fact have to sneak you out against his orders."

Khan was mildly impressed and his lips turned upward in a slight smile. "You've given this a great deal of thought, but who is to say that I will not attempt to escape the moment I am on the surface? Should I desire it, I could kill you and flee without the fear that I would be caught."

His threat was meant to provoke her, make her falter, but instead she stood a little straight, her green eyes not leaving his. "I'm not sure if it's wise to trust you, Khan, and I'm sure the feeling is mutual, but I don't think you'd kill me."

"And why is that?"

Taking a bold step closer, bringing them nearly chest to chest, she asked softly, "Why would a man so angered by the sight of bruises on my neck suddenly decide to kill me?"

Alice had him there, no doubt about it, and he ground his teeth.

Smiling faintly in triumph, seeing it in his expression that she was right, she took a step back. Khan found himself mildly disappointed by the action. Her presence might have been something he detested early on, but he now welcomed it.

With a quiet sigh, Alice picked up her heels and took a seat in the chair to put them on. "Look, I'd be lying to say if I trusted you to any noticeable degree and wasn't worried about letting you out, but it's something I need to do. I don't think you're an evil man. Ruthless and cold in your methods of obtaining your idea of peace, power hungry, and vengeful, but not evil. I'm willing to try to trust you, Khan," she said, looking up when her heels were on and slipping on her coat before rising with her purse and bag in her hands. "That's the best I can do right now, I'm sorry."

This time, her apology truly was unnecessary.

As paranoid as she claimed his past made her, he'd been half certain that it would be farther down the road before she opened up to the possibility of trust. His actions from this moment on could either draw her in or push her away permanently. He needed to play his cards carefully if his plan was going to stand a chance, and that meant not going about his regular act of manipulation in the manner in which he was accustomed to.

Alice knew how he acted and more or less know what to expect from him, so for that very reason he couldn't turn a false new leaf and suddenly be polite or overly kind to her because that just was not the man he was. He could be compassionate and a gentleman when he desired to be, but acting the part to trick her was different from genuinely expressing it. If he knew Alice as well as he believed he did, she would be able to tell if he was lying or merely faking.

With Marcus, Doyle, and the others, he could put on a show, but not for Alice.

To gain her trust, there had to be no act at all.

The moment she believed he was just using her, it was all over.

Shifting from foot to foot slightly, she hitched her purse over her shoulder and reached through her bag of gifts, retrieving a small box wrapped in red paper with a dark green ribbon around it. She stared at it for a second or so and then held it out for him to take. "Merry Christmas."

Khan blinked, eying the offered gift warily for a beat before accepting it. "I assume there's no point in asking what it is?"

She smiled. "None at all. But I will tell that there are two things in that box, one of which you might learn a thing or two from, and the other should make you make you think, maybe even smile."

"Then I'll ask this instead – why?"

"Like I said, you're not an evil man, and I enjoy your company even if you can be a self-righteous bastard," she replied with a half shrug.

"And what is it you expect in return?"

"Nothing." Indicating to the gift, she added, "One of the things in there has a bit to do with giving without any thought of yourself, actually. Should help you grasp that concept a bit better."

He eyed her for a moment before untying the bow, dropping the dark ribbon to the floor when he heard her punching in a code to the console, and he looked up. "You're leaving?" he asked, disappointment lacing his words.

"I want to stay, I really do. I already said that I feel and look ridiculous in this stupid dress, but I promised Carol that I'd go to this party with her," she said regretfully.

"You've mentioned Carol many times in the past. She's a good friend of yours, isn't she?"

Alice nodded. "I met her in during the first week of my first year at Starfleet Academy. She's the closest thing I've ever had to a real sister."

Khan suspected as much, and thus it made him hesitant to use her to get to the Admiral's daughter.

He discovered early on that Carol was in fact Carol _Marcus_, the only child of Admiral Alexander Marcus. If anyone could be used to get to that bastard, it was her, but he hesitated to make her a part of his plans. The moment Alice even thought she was using her to get to her best friend any chance he had of gaining her trust, something he both needed and wanted, would be lost. For now, Carol was off limits, no matter how tempting it was to use her against Marcus. The risk of losing Alice to that decision was too great.

Thinking too much into his silence or perhaps reading something in his expression that he wasn't hiding, Alice hesitated with her hand over the console, not yet punching in the last number. "Carol will never let me hear the end of it if I don't show, but… if you ask me to stay, I will."

She would forgo spending Christmas Eve with the friend she saw as a sister if he merely asked? That opened the door to a few tempting possibilities, some of which were purely plan related whilst one or two were more personal than he cared to admit even to himself.

"… Go," Khan instructed coolly, wanting nothing more than to ask her to stay but unwilling to open himself up to that sort of vulnerability.

A look of disappointment shown briefly in her eyes as she cast them downward, nodding slowly. When she looked back up, the disappointment was gone as if it had never been there, and she smiled faintly as she turned back to the door.

"Alice," he started out of nowhere before she could work on reentering the code, it having to be put in from the beginning again since it took too long to be completed. Once her attention was back on him, he assured her in an honest, warm tone, "I wouldn't worry about your appearance this evening. You look beautiful."

The blush that rose to Alice's cheeks was as bright as he'd ever seen it, far more appealing than the red her cheeks turned when she grew angry, and she smiled whilst tucking a curl behind her ear self-consciously. She said nothing, didn't thank him or say anything else, but this time when she punched in the code on the console she angled her body in a way that not only accentuated her alluring figure, but also allowed him to see the code everyone worked so hard to keep from him.

The twelve digit code that unlocked the door from the inside. That code was rarely used, saved for the few occasions when the guards failed to open it from the outside for whatever reason. When it was keyed in, he was supposed to be facing the other direction.

"Don't forget what I said about behaving," Alice reminded him, knowing full well how tempting it would be for him to use that very code to get out. Glancing over her shoulder, she flashed him a disarmingly lovely smile. "Merry Christmas, Khan."

She was out the door before he could respond, leaving him alone with his thoughts that were running into each other and contradicting one another every single second. Alice was confusing him to no end, irritating him beyond belief, and drawing him in with her compassionate and fiery nature.

Staring at the door a moment longer, he turned his attention back to the gift in his hands. The paper came off within seconds of his tearing at it and he tossed it to the coffee table, opening the top of the box. Inside was a smaller box that wasn't wrapped, and beneath it was a book. He took a seat in his chair and removed both items, looking to the book first.

_"The Gift of the Magi" _by O. Henry.

It was small and tattered, old and probably no more than forty pages long if that. A short story, something he had little time for, but curiosity kept him from tossing it to the side so he set it down to have a look at later before opening the smaller box.

Pulling back the dark green tissue paper from the object within, Khan did not even try to hide the knowing smile that tugged at his lips, and he removed the crystal chess piece with great care. Turning over the piece in his hand, the queen, he noted from the odd chips and scuffs that it was the very piece from Alice's chess set, the oddities cause by Doyle ransacking her quarters.

He readily recalled how she'd insisted that the queen was the most important piece, the one key to the king's survival, and how she'd beaten him with that very piece.

"_Without the queen being free to move about the board, the king would be utterly vulnerable and alone. He might be more valuable, but she's more important to his preservation."_

Those had been her exact words, and those words could not be more true in their case.

The entire situation was like a game of chess, Khan being the king and Alice the queen. Without her free to go to the surface, to go places he could not, without her in general, he would be alone within Section 31 and his plan of escape and eventual revenge would be that much harder to obtain.

They both needed each other if they were going to move forward, they both knew that very well, but if they were going to survive and win, they needed to trust each other.

Alice had extended an olive branch in the form of a chess piece made from frosted white crystal, and had placed a choice directly before him by allowing him to see the very code keeping him locked within his cell.

Desperate to get out of the room that had become his cell now that he had the chance, Khan was quick to rise to his feet and place the chess piece on his nightstand before picking up the PADD regarding the _Vengeance_. The security feed would not be back up for some time, and if he was going to avoid going to that door for just a taste of freedom he had to dive headlong into his work until he was sure he was being watched on the cameras.

Alice gave him a choice, and for now, Khan chose to play by her rules. At least until she got him to the surface like she promised. Once he was out… well, he'd figure that out at a later point in time.

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_**Review, please! Reviews let me know that you wish for more!**_

**A/N: **_**I didn't want to get too far out of character with Khan too quick without it seeming natural, and by having him selflessly do something for Alice in the last chapter would have been too soon. Still, I didn't want him to be as cold as he first started out given that he is, albeit reluctantly, attracted to her. His goals and current willingness to dispose of her once her usefulness has come to an end is creating a new kind of conflict for him, causing him to do more than necessary for her that is not solely a part of the game he's playing. **_


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **_**In regards to that **_**"Sherlock"**_** fic I mentioned I would be writing, I hope to have it posted within a week or two. It's just taking a lot longer than I'd anticipated to get a solid chapter considering how complex Sherlock is.**_

* * *

Dressed in black dress pants and a casual light purple shirt, Alice wandered over to where Khan stood at a work station in one of the large labs of the weapons research/development level. She peered around him, attempting to see the blueprints on the screen of what he was working on, but he breathed out a sigh of annoyance, brought up something else on the screen, then went about doing something else at another station that was cluttered with tools and bits and pieces of machinery.

They had been at this for quite some time now, maybe forty minutes to an hour, she couldn't be readily sure. She'd come down to research/development to shadow him as she normally did each and every day, but as of late he'd been more irritated with her presence there than usual. Whatever he was working on he did not want her to see, and that brought about a new kind of tension that was more annoying than anything else. She was curious, and he was secretive, a frustrating mix.

Irritated and annoyed, Alice took a step back and looked around at the various things he was not hiding from her. What he was not hiding from her, however, looked like little more than junk to her in a sea of junk. For all his claims of perfection, the man could make quite a mess. He'd probably claim that it was all organized, and to him maybe it was, but to her it was just chaotic.

"Are you ever going to let me see what you're doing?" she asked, curiously picking up an inactive computer screen that had yet to be attached to whatever he was working on.

"There's no reason for you to see," he replied, attention elsewhere.

She sighed. "Who am I going to tell?"

"Carol."

She hesitated to answer, he being right. Any information on the ship, torpedoes, and anything else would be passed along to Carol, but she couldn't afford to let Khan know that.

"Right, I'm going to go find Carol and tell her that a genetically engineered superman is building God-knows-what for Admiral Marcus in a secret facility bellow London." She stared at him. "I'd be called insane the moment that came out of my mouth. Friend or not, she wouldn't believe me about _that _and would demand to know why I've yet to be put on medication."

Khan pondered over that for a moment, staring at the PADD he'd picked up a moment ago, and then said, "Regardless, Marcus has made it clear that you're not to see everything that is going on, at least not the specifics."

"Well, then," she started, wandering back over to him but stopping just short of being close enough to see what he was doing. "How about showing me the… unspecific things?"

He looked at her over his shoulder, amused by her persistence.

She waited patiently with a child-like smile painted on her face that she use to use with her parents when she wanted something as a little girl, and he just shook his head at her before getting back to his work, at which point the smile faded. It was a long-shot anyways that he would let her take a peek.

After their new found understanding that they came to on Christmas Eve a couple of days ago, they'd been getting along rather well. He was a little less evasive and rude, and she was less pushy with topics that he really did not like and showed him a little more respect. To her surprise, he was even being a little friendly – greeting her once she arrived as opposed to ignoring her, sometimes talking about things of little importance just for the sake of talking. One thing he only did once, however, was compliment her, and that was done on Christmas Eve.

All throughout the party, she recalled how he'd said she looked beautiful in her dress and how she shouldn't worry about her appearance. She hated wearing dresses, felt ridiculous in them, so to hear that kind of comment from _him _was enough to make her heart flutter in a rather girly way. Professional as she tried to remain, Alice could not deny the growing attraction she had towards Khan, a man who was hardly her type.

Sweet, caring, gentlemanly types were the sort of men she looked for. Men like Khan – cold, ruthless, dangerous men – were the kind she avoided in her personal life, choosing only to associate with them via her work. She supposed that was what she was doing now, but with each passing minute she became doubtful that she could remain professional.

Khan was like a magnet that she was growing increasingly drawn to, and that scared her more than a little. Any feelings she developed for him would only end badly on her part. The only people Khan cared about were his crew, the people he considered family, and they were dead.

At least, that was what she was constantly told.

A man like Khan wouldn't stay on Marcus' leash for any old reason, nor would he allow himself to be treated like a prisoner. Her first thought would have been that he was doing this for his family, some last ditch attempt to do something good in their memory, but whenever she mentioned his family he acted angry and evasive, which struck her as odd because never did he even show remorse for their death. As cold as he was, his family had been everything to him, and she expected remorse.

His reactions to her mentioning of them confused her, but then Doyle said something quite peculiar.

"_Try it. Give me a reason to have you put down along with your crew."_

That phrase hadn't bothered her at first, but the more she thought about it the more she didn't understand it. The way Doyle phrased it just didn't make a great deal of sense. He spoke as if the other Augments were still alive. Surely that was not the case. Marcus was a bastard, but he wouldn't go so far as to hold Khan's people hostage just to get what he wanted, would he?

She didn't want to believe it, couldn't believe it, but the only way she would know for sure was if she confronted Khan on the matter, something she wasn't ready to do just yet.

On Christmas Eve, she'd intended to ask about it, to bring it up, but she lost her nerve shortly after he asked what her reasons for taking Marcus' and Doyle's abuse were. Old wounds on her part had been opened, and strangely enough she took a small amount of comfort and strength from Khan in that moment. He'd told her exactly what he thought, that she was playing a dangerous game and that he didn't think her parents would be thrilled with what she was doing exactly, and she really did appreciate his honesty. Had he lent her false comfort she would have become angered by his show of pity or whatever. Instead, in his own way, he'd comforted her just by being who he was. So she hadn't asked him about his crew, deciding she'd wait until she had more facts to prove if they were alive or dead. The last thing she wanted to do was ask if his crew was still alive only to find out that they were not. Should they truly be dead, she did not want to pour salt into the wound.

"Do you intend to come over here?" Khan asked out of the blue, startling her. Turning fractionally to look at her, he asked, "Or are your thoughts so stimulating that your curiosity on what I am doing is overruled?"

She blinked, wondering if he were serious a moment before she hurried to his side.

If he was offering to reveal a bit of his work to her then he had her full attention.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked, indicating to the large oval-like container on the screen in front of him.

"Not exactly my area of expertise."

"It's common knowledge, something any Starfleet officer should know."

Staring at the it more closely, thinking back to various classes in the Academy, to her fading memory of her father letting her watch him work on weapons, an idea came to her and she replied, "It's a fuel container."

He nodded. "Yes, modified to fit into an advanced long-ranged photon torpedo."

Alice's attention turned from the container to him, shocked that he was quite willingly bringing up the very thing he was so secretive of, something he worked on in personally in a part of the lab she was not permitted to venture into. They were growing close, but not close enough for this information, at least she didn't think so. Maybe he was more fond of her than she originally thought. Or he had something up his sleeve. With Khan, she just couldn't tell.

"I'm no expert, but it's not the conventional shape," she observed.

"As I said it has been modified. I took the original design and reworked it on Christmas Eve after you left," he explained, bringing up its original design on the PADD. "Donavon and her co-workers finished piecing it together earlier this morning."

"This morning?" she repeated. "Christmas Eve was only four days ago. What did you do, force her into overtime?"

He smirked a bit and replied, "I've no use for holidays and putting off tasks that must be accomplished. I told her as such and she saw things my way, though not without complaint."

"Probably because you put the fear of God into her," Alice observed with dry amusement.

Julia Donavon was an excellent weapons specialist, very good at her work, but Alice hated her with a passion after only meeting her a few times. Donavon thought her word was gospel, believing that she was the boss in all things going in "her lab", as she called it. She was rude to those around her, ordering them about left and right, and rumor was that some actually preferred dealing with Khan – Harrison, as they believed him to be. That rumor went straight to Khan's head and he regularly used that as ammunition during his and Alice's arguments about whether or not he was truly "better". When it came to Donavon, Alice was quick to agree that he was a better leader than that woman.

"I inferred that things for her would be quite difficult if she did not do as I had ordered," he argued coolly, defending himself. The slight upward turn of his lips gave him away though. "It's hardly my fault if she took what I said as a threat."

"Right, because _you _never sound threatening at all. You're the most soft-spoken man I know."

The slight turn of his lips turned into a full smile, a sight she took pride in because as far as she knew she was the only one to make him smile so genuinely.

Getting back to the topic at hand, he continued on about the torpedoes, "While the fuel container is quite necessary, it's been modified for easy removal if the situation should arise where it is needed elsewhere for some reason or another."

"I can't imagine it ever needing to be taken out," she commented.

Khan's smile faded, gaze turning distant, and replied with a sigh, "You'd be surprised of what circumstances for its absence may come about."

Alice looked from the fuel container to him, frowning at his almost worried expression tinted with anger. "What is it about these damn torpedoes that makes you so uptight? A moment ago we were as close to joking around as we've ever gotten, and now you're… somewhere else."

"I don't understand your meaning," he lied convincingly to anyone who didn't know him as well as she did.

"Yes, you do," she argued, forcing herself to keep her tone calm and understanding when she wanted nothing more than to shake him until he gave her an honest answer about the weapons. "Something about them has you on edge and thinking about something else. What about them has you so invested?"

Khan said nothing, almost debating with himself as he tapped his index finger against the console a few times. She was willing to stand patiently and wait for him to either answer her or deflect the question. There was always the chance he wouldn't reply at all.

"Alice," he started after a full minute and keeping his eyes locked on the screen, tone calculated, careful, and very quiet, his words for her ears only and so low that even the listening devices would be hard-pressed to hear. "The day will come where I will tell you the purpose of these torpedoes, but for now you must accept that I cannot reveal too much when the threat of the repercussions is so great. Be patient, and you will eventually be told."

It was hardly the reply she suspected, so different from much of what he'd ever said to her. He could be lying to buy himself time, but she'd learned of his tell some time ago and knew he was being honest. He would tell her, and as he said, she had to be patient.

Her nod surely came as a relief to him, and she replied just as quietly, "All right. No more questions about them."

"And do not discuss them with Carol."

"I wasn't…" she trailed off at the hard, knowing expression he shot her way and sighed. "Okay."

"Promise me."

"I beg your pardon?" she asked, in need of clarification.

"You're a woman of your word," he explained. "Give me your word that you will speak of nothing you learn about the torpedoes, and I will believe you."

Would he really?

Khan was nothing if not cautious, trusting no one but himself. That was her belief, anyways.

Despite this, she reluctantly replied, "I promise, I won't say a word to _anyone_. Is that acceptable?"

After a beat, he nodded. "It is."

"Good," she said as she looked ahead of them and across the lab. A groan nearly escaped her when her eyes landed on a familiar face, and she muttered, "Here comes your friend."

Following her gaze, he too looked ready to groan, if not walk off altogether with a deep frown on his face as Donavon approach. If her dark expression was anything to go by, she was none too happy about something or another.

"What the bloody hell is this all about?" the weapon's specialist exclaimed, throwing a PADD down in front of him.

With a calmness he surely didn't feel, Khan leisurely picked up the PADD, setting his own aside. "And what is it you're referring to, Donavon?"

"The whole thing!" she snapped, cheeks nearly as red as her hair. "How can you expect us to have that thing assembled and working properly in _that _short of a time-frame?"

"Forgive me if I incorrectly assumed you were here to work, not to slack off." Glancing away from the PADD, he observed the woman dressed in a crisp dress shirt, skirt, and boots, her red hair up in a tight bun, and makeup plastered onto her face. "Perhaps if you spent less time in a vain attempt to draw attention from your male coworkers you would find you have more time to do your job."

Alice bit her lip to keep the grin off her face when Donavon's jaw dropped in angry humiliation.

When she first met her, Alice had been jealous that Khan had a noticeable reaction to the other woman's challenging, disrespectful attitude but also felt sorry for Donavon when he put her down. That sympathy had long since disappeared because Donavon was just an unpleasantly bitter individual with no real excuse to be that way. Now when Khan put her in her place Alice was pleased to see it because at least he had the spine to do so when every other man was willing to bend over for her given how inappropriately she tended to dress – really, was one more button on that pink blouse and a few more inches on that skirt hard to manage?

Flustered, angry, and embarrassed, Donavon hissed, "What gives you the right to speak to me like that? I was working here long before you and _I _am in charge!"

"Not according to Marcus," Khan countered, setting down the PADD and rounding on Donavon, repeating the seemingly never-ending argument between them. "I suggest you reassess the chain of command and realize that you are no longer in charge of this level or the projects underway. So long as I am here, you will follow my orders exactly, else I will have you removed from my sight and replaced with someone better suited."

"You can't do that!"

"He can, actually," Alice spoke up, moving to stand by Khan's side. He didn't need the support, but that was the point. She wanted him to know that she had his back even with the simple things. "Per Admiral Marcus' orders, Agent Harrison is in charge of this department and has a say in who works with him and who doesn't. If you have a problem with Harrison's orders, lose the attitude and act like an adult, not a child who isn't getting her way."

"This is none of your business, Walsh!" Donavon spat, shooting daggers at her with her dark brown eyes.

"Whether it is her business or not is irrelevant as she is correct," Khan deduced, irritation lacing his words as he took a menacing step towards Donavan, smirking in cold amusement when she gulped and backed up. "You will have the prototype ready by weeks end. If you cannot accomplish this, tell me now, and I'll find someone more capable as well as more respectful."

Growing increasingly uncomfortable under his hard, unblinking stare, Donavon looked everywhere but at him. "What… what about the people who are gone for the holidays? You can't expect –"

"I do expect, and you will deliver," he interrupted in sharp frustration, making her flinch. "I trust there is an understanding between us?"

Swallowing thickly, Donavon glanced at him before looking to the ground, nodding in submission like a puppy who had just been scolded. She retrieved her PADD, clutching it close to her chest, and hurried past them, purposefully ramming her shoulder into Alice's.

Tongue in cheek, Alice dug her nails into her fists to keep from trailing after the woman and slapping her.

"What was that for?" Khan asked curiously.

She looked to him, still seething from the shove. "What?"

"Why did you speak up?" he clarified. "I had the situation under control. Your assistance was utterly pointless."

"Oh, I don't know. Seeing Donavon turn three shades redder than her hair was pretty priceless. Though what would be more priceless would be to see my hand-print on her face when I slap her eventually."

Khan ignored her comment, instead waiting for a serious answer from her.

Joking around or being a smart-ass with him when he wanted something, even an answer, was usually little more than a waste of time. It didn't stop her from trying to get a smile out of him whenever she could.

Alice sighed, leaning on her hip against the work station. "I know you didn't need it, that isn't the point. I was just trying to be helpful."

"For no reason?"

"Not exactly," she argued lightheartedly with a shrug. "Knowing she'd be fuming was reason enough. Besides, I'm also trying to be friendly, something I suspect you're not entirely accustomed to."

He stared at her a moment longer, likely recalling how she'd called him a friend on Christmas Eve when she came to apologize, before he turned back to what he was doing before Donavon showed up.

She liked to think that he believed her, but she didn't know if he did because she honestly doubted that anyone in his past was a friend to him, or if there had been a friend once upon a time it was unlikely they stayed as such given his stance on how people always did something for something, never being selfless. He was bitter, untrusting, and manipulative – anyone with a head on their shoulders would not desire to be his friend. She did, though, and maybe that was what threw him for a loop.

Were the circumstances different, she'd avoid him like the plague. It was the fact that they were forced together that had her getting to know him, even liking him. All they had was each other in this mess, in this prison where Marcus was their warden.

Shaking her head at him, smiling fractionally, she bumped her shoulder against his arm in a lighthearted manner before moving away to look at some other piece of machinery. "You really need to learn to reply, by the way. Any other time you'd fight me tooth and nail just to get the last word in, but when it comes to our unique relationship or anything personal you say only what's necessary before shutting up and ignoring whatever it was that I said."

"I was under the impression that only questions required a reply," he said wearily, slightly irritated. "Anything besides a question does not require that a statement be made unless the one being spoken to feels like talking."

Alice said nothing, only picked up a gadget that she supposed would be going into the torpedo once Khan finished working on it, fighting the smile that wanted to form on her face.

A beat passed, then another, and she could feel his irritation growing.

"Doctor?"

She purposefully waited a moment before responding, lips twitching with the effort not to smile, and she looked at him as innocently as she could. "Oh, I'm so sorry, were you expecting a reply? Because I was under the impression that anything less than a question didn't require a reply."

The muscles in his jaw tensed at her turning his own words on him and she was well aware that her remark could either piss him off or amuse him, maybe both, but likely one or the other.

To her relief, after a long second he visibly relaxed, the faintest of smiles gracing his lips as her shook his head. "You truly are a thorn in my side."

Alice grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"As you should," he replied, taking her by surprise. "It was one."

Granted there had been no bite in his tone, but that wasn't the typical compliment to be heard from anyone.

"Joking aside, why should I take that as a compliment? Most people consider that to be an insult when they say it, even a lighthearted one."

"Alice," Khan began, and she really could get used to hearing him say her first name. "Were your challenging, smart-ass demeanor less than tolerable I would not waste my breath with you."

She nit her eyebrows together, trying to make sense of what he was telling her. "So… you're saying you like my attitude."

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"When we first met, you looked ready to strangle me for how I acted towards you, and I might be less prickly but I sure as hell make no attempt to change into any image you might wish for me to be," she said, wanting to understand but not quite following. "I've watched you for months and the only people you tolerate with any respect and don't raise your voice to are the ones who would willingly bend over if you asked them to and treat you like royalty without even knowing who you are. That's what you want in people – you want followers, not friends who will readily pick on you and put you in your place when you're being an ass. I might consider myself to be your friend, but I'm not entirely sure if you have any idea at all what that means – friend."

He considered her reasoning for a moment, glancing to the side in thought. "Perhaps it is for that very reason that I find your independent nature to be so likeable – it's a refreshing change of pace."

"Really?" Crossing her arms, she faced him fully, giving him her full attention. "No offence, but I kind of find that difficult to believe."

"And why is that?"

Walking over to where she'd set her PADD and picking it up, she dragged her finger over various files as she explained, looking over different notes to show him as evidence, "There are various examples in your history to suggest that while you were probably the greatest tyrant to ever exist, you had little time for personal relationships. Even the scant notes I have in regards to your relationship with your fellow Augments suggest that it was more a of a leader/follower type relationship, and –"

"Past tense," Khan interrupted with a note of annoyance, abandoning his work to approach her and take the PADD from her hands, setting it down back down.

"What, you're saying you're no longer that man?" she asked skeptically, swallowing in response to the sudden closeness and diminished space between them as he stood only a foot from her, forcing her to look up at him.

"I'm saying that different circumstances bring about different wants and desires," he replied with forced patience. "Tell me, had Nero's ship not passed through the black hole and brought forth a new reality, our reality, would you and I be standing here at this very moment? Had Vulcan not been destroyed, Marcus would have not set out deeper into space in search of ways to protect the Federation against possible threats. Would I be here at all, or would I have been awoken at a different time under different circumstances that would cause me to act as I did in the past or in a way entirely different from then and now?"

That was a headache if there ever was one, and Alice didn't have an answer for him this time.

There were still skeptics who didn't believe that they were all a part of some alternate reality created by Nero, and some didn't even believe that the ship had come through a black hole at all. It just wasn't possible, and yet anyone could speak to the elderly Vulcan/human hybrid on New Vulcan and learn the truth, could test his blood and see that he was in fact the much older version of Commander Spock who was currently serving under Captain James Kirk. As unbelievable as it was, a majority of the Federation took the word of the elder Spock and testimonies of Kirk and the Spock of this time as truth. Whether the entire galaxy believed it fully was irrelevant because those of importance did, etching it into history.

Alice was inclined to believe it all, finding that only an alternate reality could explain a few of the events that had occurred, and so she couldn't help but agree with Khan in regards to his explanation of his wants and desires.

Would Khan be the same man standing before her if Nero hadn't changed thing? Would he be a better man, a hero like she thought he could have been in the past if only he'd gone down a different path, or would he be evil, not dwelling in the shade of grey where she felt he currently resided? In a different time, would they have ever met at all, and if they did would she care about him as much as she was beginning to? Would he care as much as he indirectly claimed?

Too many questions bombarded her mind for her to answer, and a majority of them she would never have an answer for. Unless the elder Spock knew Khan, which she doubted, not a soul in the galaxy would be able to answer those questions.

"You wish for me to give you a chance," Khan continued, reading the conflict on her face, stepping close enough make her even more uneasy as her heartbeat quickened against her will, the foot between them turning into inches. "Yet you are unwilling to show me the same courtesy."

She shook her head adamantly, craning her head further to look him in the eye. "That's not true."

He arched a dark brow. "Oh? Was it not you who just stated that you found it hard to believe that I might find you to be a refreshing change? That based solely on my history, you believe I have no desire for friends, only followers? How is that extending me the same courtesy?"

Alice did not appreciate having her own claims thrown back in her face, but really she couldn't deny the truth there. She expected him to believe her, to give her a chance, to believe that she was his friend, when she almost forced herself not to do the same with him. On Christmas Eve, she'd allowed him to see the code for his door and had tapped her foot constantly with nerves at the party she attended with Carol, fearful that she'd made a mistake. Thankfully, he proved her wrong, and that should have been enough for her to trust him a bit.

It wasn't, and she was upset that she didn't trust him more. But the only way she could find out if she could trust him not to break her in half or turn on her was to take a few risks, to treat him as she wished for him to treat her. That would be easier said than done, but he'd earned that chance by standing up for her against Doyle and by not using that code on his door.

Swallowing her pride, feeling it become wounded even as she thought the words, Alice grudgingly admitted, "You're right. You have been giving me a chance for whatever reason, but I've been less than enthusiastic about giving you a real chance, apart from a few instances. So… I'm going to try to follow through with what I've been talking about lately and I will give you a real, genuine chance, I promise."

Her word was something he'd mentioned that he would believe if she gave it, and she hope that he held true to that statement this time around.

Khan pondered over that for a moment before opening his mouth to speak…

"Admiral Marcus wants to speak with you, Harrison," called one of his guards, cutting off the words before they could be spoken.

Both individuals shared looks of confusion, and Alice asked the guard, "The Admiral's here?"

"Yes, Ma'am. He arrived roughly an hour ago."

She hadn't been aware that he was going to be paying 31 a visit. Last she heard, he wasn't going to be returning for another couple of weeks.

With a withdrawn sigh, truly wishing he could just refuse, Khan stated dryly, "Best not keep the Admiral waiting."

He started walking away to where the guard patiently waiting, but before he could get too far Alice reached out and grabbed his hand, bringing him to a halt.

Frowning, he looked to her hand holding his, confused by the gesture, he turned his icy blue eyes back to hers in question.

Suddenly self-conscious, still sore from her earlier admission, she hesitated momentarily and then said, "I'm serious. I'll try to be more… open-minded or whatever – to genuinely give you a chance. I promise."

He didn't react for a few seconds, leading her to believe that he might not believe her to be truthful about her promise, but then he surprised her by turning his hand over and giving her own smaller hand a light squeeze that was barely registered before pulling his hand away altogether to go to the waiting guard, leaving her smiling in such a soft way that only he was capable of.

* * *

Of all the places he could be, standing at the opposite side of Admiral Marcus' desk was at the bottom of Khan's list.

Marcus read over various reports from Alice and reports on the weapons and ship Khan was designing in silence, snorting in amusement or disbelief here and there, causing the Augment to nearly roll his eyes. The Admiral was attempting to get a rise out of him, to make him curious or uneasy, but he would not rise to the bait. Had Marcus been initially displeased with anything to the degree that Khan's crew was at risk he'd have heard of it by now.

"The prototype torpedo," Marcus began after a few minutes. "You believe it will be ready for testing by week's end?"

"Yes, provided those you've chosen to work under me do their job."

Marcus cracked a faint smile. "I assume you're talking about Donavon. She's contacted me on a regular basis to complain that you 'expect too much'."

"I expect her to do her assigned job fully and completely," he replied coolly.

"Which she will do," Marcus assured him. "If not, she'll be looking for a new career, something that will be more than a bit difficult given her history."

Khan learned only a few days prior by one of the more tolerable engineers that a majority of the people stationed on at least a few levels were not with Starfleet, but were rather hired personally by Marcus and that most had some form of a criminal record. A majority of those working in 31 were honest Starfleet officers, but that wasn't the case on the levels Khan had access to where most of the individuals had apparently struck deals and signed contracts with Marcus that would see to them receiving a clean slate in return for their service.

How many were stuck under Marcus' thumb?

How was Marcus able to keep his fellow Admirals in the dark?

It was a question in which Khan had thought about quite a few times but never really dwelled on since it wasn't his problem. Whether or not the people around him were Starfleet didn't make a difference to him, nor did he care that they were being used in a similar manner as he and Alice. They were in bed with Marcus, many of them seeming to genuinely like the man and be thankful for their so called second chance, and that was all Khan needed to know. A majority of the non-Starfleet personnel in 31 would not be looking to turn on Marcus.

As Marcus continued to read, a question pushed to the front of Khan's mind, one that was not easy to ignore no matter how hard he tried. It had been over three months since his awakening, and a part of the deal that they made was supposed to take effect three months from that time. It was at that mark, and despite his calm presentation and body language, Khan felt like he might jump clean out of his skin, desperately hoping Marcus would keep his word.

Time ticked by, far too much time for Khan's liking, and the Augment finally decided to speak up. "What is to be done with my crew?"

Marcus looked to him. "What do you mean?"

"After I was awoken, you promised in our deal that three months from then if there was significant progress to be had with the weapons and the ship, you would allow me ten members of my crew to aid in further construction – crew members of my choosing. It has been three months, and I have no doubt that the progress made with the various weapons and the _Vengeance_ has surpassed your expectations."

"Indeed they have," Marcus agree with a nod, setting down the PADD and rising from his chair to walk to the side of his desk, leaning casually against it. With so many guards standing ready as well as Doyle, he appeared to have no fear at all of Khan. Marcus was mistaken if he thought they would be able to stop him from snapping his neck. "Truthfully, I didn't expect you to have the prototype ready without slipping in your work on the other weapons within three months, but I definitely didn't think we'd already be building the _Vengeance_ within the first two months. It seems to me that it should be the other way around – the prototype being ready within two months and the construction of the _Vengeance_ beginning in three. You see where I'm going with this?"

Khan most definitely did, and it was a conversation he'd prepared for since receiving his 'orders'. "Apart from having advanced warp capabilities and being solely for combat as opposed to exploration, the _Vengeance _is a rather simple task – child splay, if you will. You wanted it to remain recognizable as a Starfleet ship, making the creation of the overall look of the ship quite easy – all I had to do was look to your various other ships and base mine off theirs. Next came making it capable of being operated by a minimal crew, even one if the need came about – not terribly difficult given the technology of this age, but I won't bore you with the details that I'm sure you've already read. As for the warp capabilities, that is someone else's department, not mine, so you can thank them for that. Weapon wise, it is the same concept as turning a cruise ship into a battleship – alter its design enough, add a few new parts whilst removing others and eventually you'll have a vessel built for war not leisure."

"And the torpedoes and your other tasks aren't 'child's play'?" Marcus asked doubtfully, taking in his quick and easy explanation. On the holographic projector on his desk, he brought up the design of the prototype photon torpedo. He pressed a button on the console that separated all the components of the projection, and he enhanced the image of the fuel container. "You've made it easily removable and larger than necessary. Explain."

"Consider that part of its design a gift."

Marcus crossed his arms, eying him suspiciously. "A gift?"

"You've requested that the torpedo be made undetectable by sensors, specifically those used by Klingons, and I have done just that. I've also taken into consideration your request for chemical and biological weapons," he explained as easily as if he were discussing the reason it were raining, the lie long practiced. "I have made the compartment larger as well as removable so as to be replaced with a container packed full of whatever chemical or biological agent you see fit to fill it with. Should you choose to rain fire down on some unsuspecting planet, not only will damage be done in the moment by the explosion from the torpedo itself, but residual death and torment will extend far beyond the impact zone."

Suspicion slowly drained from Marcus' expression, giving way to unmasked curiosity.

Relaxing his posture, attention focusing on the torpedo as he brought the projection back to its original state, Marcus stated, "You made no mention of this in your report, and neither have any of the other specialists and engineers."

Khan shrugged fractionally. "I've informed those in the labs working to weaponize various agents, but seeing as the use of chemical and biological weapons is highly illegal within the Federation I felt it prudent to bring the information to you first before giving the engineers and technicians working under me a new task. As it is, they're curious about some of the assignments I given them."

One of Khan's many tasks was to create biological and chemical weapons varying in design and capabilities. It was something he'd never taken on in the twentieth century, but hardly a challenge. As long as the scientists in the lower labs gave him something to work with, he could make it into a weapon, and as long as Alice continued to be restricted to those labs he could do so in peace. No doubt she would become enraged to find that one of the viruses being experimented with and weaponized was the very virus that killed her parents when she was just a child.

"I appreciate that," Marcus replied sincerely. "And in return, you would like me to revive ten crew members."

"Correct."

The Admiral breathed out a heavy sigh and walked back around his desk, taking a seat. "Here's the thing, Khan. I'm not sure I can trust you with even one of your crew, and certainly not with ten, not when it's clear that you're twisting the thoughts of one of Starfleet's own."

Khan frowned, not exactly following.

In reply, Marcus reached into his a drawer and retrieved a small item.

It was the chess piece that Alice had given Khan.

Turning the piece over in his hand a few times, Marcus said with a note of curiosity, "It was painfully obvious that Dr. Walsh hated you in her first few reports. If I remember correctly, she stated you were arrogant, self-righteous, and would not hesitate to wring the necks of anyone who crossed you, if not even for the sheer pleasure of it. She didn't feel you could be trusted to be on the surface. Next thing I know, she makes a request that you _do _go to the surface even if you have to be under guard the whole time. Little by little, her reports have morphed until she regular paints you in a more… decent manner. When she and I last spoke a few weeks ago, she spoke almost highly of you and said that while she didn't trust you personally she didn't feel you committed acts of evil for evil's sake, to use her own words, and that you kill only when threatened or when your goals for peace are blocked, not because you go looking to murder people for the sake of killing. To take her word for it, you had everyone's best interests at heart during your tyranny but went about it all the wrong way." He shook his head, smirking in amusement. "Doyle's kept me informed of your interactions with Walsh and told me what you threatened to do should he hurt her again. I'm inclined to believe that your threat was made because you need her in one piece and her mind not rattled, but Doyle seems to think it was more personal. I didn't believe him until he brought me _this _a little while ago," he added, holding up the queen.

Khan's jaw muscles worked as his whole body tensed, itching to snatch his possession from the Admiral even as his mind worked to comprehend what he was just told.

Alice had gone from hating him, to requesting that he go to the surface, to even defending his acts and methods of ruling in the twentieth century, acts she insisted she detested and disagreed with but understood. If there was any doubt in his that she was being truthful that she didn't believe him to be evil to his core, there was none now, not when she said as much to Marcus himself when there was no reason for her to expect that the admission would be relayed back to him.

What was concerning was Marcus' interest in the matter.

Continuing, Marcus said, "I was informed that Walsh requested your presence in your quarters on Christmas Eve, but seeing as the feed was down for scheduled maintenance, neither Doyle or myself had any of way of knowing just what went on. I ordered him to take a look through your quarters and Walsh's and was informed that she was missing a chess piece that happened turn up on your nightstand. Had you stolen it, she'd have seen fit to recover it, so I'm inclined to believe that she gave it to you, correct?"

"She believed that even a man such as myself required a gift on Christmas," Khan replied as wearily as he could when he could feel the uncertainty and worry of this conversation bubbling up. "It means nothing."

Doyle snorted, stepping forward until he stood directly beside the seated Admiral, a twisted smile forming. "We're not idiots, and I've seen the two of you together. You two are downright friendly, if not too much so. Hell, I didn't even that one sweet, innocent smile out of her that you do, and I had her so out of it in the club a few months ago that anything I did should have made her feel… special. But if she means so little to you, let me take her off your hands for a while – I promise she won't be smiling so innocently after a night out with me."

Grinding his teeth, Khan's clenching fists were the first visible signs of his control slipping as he recalled just how terrible Alice had looked the morning after Doyle slipped her that sedative and threatened her, which in turn reminded him of the marks that still adorned her neck. Until her usefulness came to an end, she belonged to him and he would not tolerate her being threatened, harmed, or spoken of in a way that he so much as thought of as threatening.

"That's enough, Commander!" Marcus barked, sensing the rising tension between the two men as well as detesting the conversation itself. Perhaps he didn't like hearing of his daughter's best friend being spoken of like that either, or maybe he just didn't want his lackey to be beaten to death by the angered Augment. Maybe it was both.

Either way, Doyle pursed his lips, shut up, and stood straighter.

"Despite my Commander's distasteful attitude, he's right – you two are a little too friendly. That's why I came down to speak with you personally," Marcus stated, forming a fist around the chess piece. "If you're capable of warping her opinion of you I sure as hell don't want any of your crew woken up yet. So, we'll wait and see if things have changed in another few weeks. If I don't believe you've turned her into a threat by that point, then a few members of your crew will eventually be woken up, you have my word."

"Just as I had it the first time you made such a promise?" Khan asked in a low, angered tone.

"Had I not become suspicious of your relationship with Dr. Walsh things might have turned out differently," Marcus argued coldly, and Khan did not believe him for a second. "Believe me or don't, that's your problem. Regardless, we'll see where things are in a few weeks. You're dismissed." He motioned for the guards and they came to stand behind Khan to take him back to work.

Khan made no move to leave, instead turning his eyes to the chess piece that the Admiral still held.

Catching the look, Marcus' lips twitched and he stuck it back in his desk. "Consider that to be something you'll get back at a time of my choosing."

Something Khan immediately decided he hated was having something withheld as if he were a child being punished, and he hated that it bothered him not to have the simple piece of frosted crystal back in his possession.

But he said nothing and made no move to get it back.

Enough damage had been done and he turned to be lead back to research/development. He hadn't thought his interactions with Alice had been too out of the ordinary, though he was aware that they'd taken to being friendly towards each other. Clearly, he'd miscalculated on just how closely his and Alice's interactions were being monitored.

Khan cursed silently, realizing that he would have to be a great deal more careful around Alice if he was going to stay in the Admiral's good graces. That left him in a rather problematic situation.

Just how much of a risk was he willing to take with Alice?

If he played his cards right, he felt he could trick Alice into caring about him more, to perhaps even love him, but if she started acting like she did care so greatly then Marcus would be made more suspicious and his crew would be put at risk. Part of him – the logical, calculated, and goal focused part – told him that it would be smarter to gain her loyalty as a friend instead of trying to gain it as a lover, even though love would be a more powerful motivator to get her to do what he wanted. But another part, one just starting to rear its head – the part that admittedly cared about Alice, her opinions, and her well-being – insisted that she was indeed worth the risk.

Indecision was not something Khan was accustomed to feeling, nor did he like it one bit.

* * *

Only once Khan and the guards left his office did Marcus relax his shoulders and lean back in his chair. "Why do you insist on antagonizing _him _of all people, Doyle?"

The Commander shrugged, walking around the desk to take a seat in the chair opposite of Marcus. "It's fun getting a rise out of him," he replied quite seriously, and that worried Marcus.

"I can keep him in line by dangling his crew in front of him, but don't push him too far. He killed his own mother and countless strangers – don't think he won't kill you, son," he warned.

Doyle sighed, clearly disagreeing but unwilling to argue with Marcus. "What are we going to do about him and Walsh?"

Marcus wasn't readily sure.

He didn't think Khan was capable of caring about anyone who wasn't a fellow Augment because that would require a heart that Khan did not have, which left him thinking Khan was just using Alice, but his interactions with her were interesting. It was incredibly concerning to have those two becoming so close and he didn't like them getting together to talk when the video and audio was shut off for any reason beyond his control, but the closeness between the two presented Marcus with a few possibilities that he had never considered until now.

Thinking for another full minute, Marcus slowly replied, "Leave them be for now. I want to see how far he'll take this game or whatever it is that he has up his sleeve, but keep a closer eye on Walsh and make sure she doesn't open her mouth to anyone. And contact Dr. Zell – tell her I want to discuss a business proposition that should clear the air between us."

Doyle blinked, surprised by the last order, but he nodded and stood. "I'll do so immediately, Sir."

Marcus returned his attention to the work he'd been doing before Khan was brought to him.

He doubted Khan would risk his crew over a woman, but should events occur, he was confident that Zell would bring to light the realities of the thoughts running through his mind. She was, after all, an expert on human Augmentation and genetics. Despite their past discrepancies, she would happily jump at the chance to study Khan.

But that woman was uniquely sadistic and cold, and she loved attention, something that could prove to be problematic if she decided she wanted the public to know of the work she was doing. Between Zell and Doyle, Marcus would have his hands full keeping his own people from stepping on their toes. As long as they remembered their place and followed their orders without enraging Khan in anyway, all would go well.

Marcus just hoped that Alice would continue to cooperate with him and not be blinded by Khan's manipulations. But if her loyalty was lost to him, if her career became less important than Khan and his lies, he would put a halt in his newly forming ideas and be rid of her before she became to great of a problem. If that meant he had to end the life of his daughter's best friend at some point in the future to keep her silent, so be it.

* * *

_**Review, please! Reviews let me know that you wish for more!**_

_**This was originally going to end after Alice's POV, but for the next chapter to make as much sense as possible I needed to continue with both Khan's perspective and Marcus'.  
**_


	11. Chapter 11

Three weeks had passed since Marcus ordered Doyle to contact Dr. Cynthia Zell and request that she come to Section 31 to discuss business, and he had expected her to show up on his doorstep the very next day but was forced to wait until the starship she was currently serving on returned to Earth. However, once it did return and the shuttle landed she came directly to 31 to meet with him, surprised that he was allowing her back in at all.

She'd worked there for a few weeks once before but he was forced to send her packing when she started going against his orders and putting sensitive information into one of her books. She'd also taken to exposing the men and women willingly taking part in various experiments to biological elements and treatments they had not consented to, resulting in some new biological agents that could end the lives of individuals with certain genetics whilst leaving others alive and well, but also killing most of the volunteers. Not to mention she was downright unpleasant to be around, believing herself to be on a pedestal above everyone else simply because of her genius level intelligence. Even by his standards, she was dangerous and cold.

Had he not felt that her expertise in genetics and human augmentation would be beneficial he would have never sought out her presence ever again. But these were unique circumstances, and now she sat in the chair opposite him at his desk, intently reading every single piece of information he had on Khan from both before and following his awakening.

He'd already informed her of his new found goal revolving around Khan and he thought wasn't surprised that she readily accepted the unique challenge. All she had to do was catch up on all things Khan, as well as learn as much as possible about Alice.

"This is incredible," Zell murmured in awe, brown eyes wide as she read over Khan's medical data. "His pain receptors are nearly non-existent – he could be tickled by a feather but anything short of a stab wound or a serious beating by another Augment would result in little to no sensation that could be called pain. And his blood…" she shook her head, her smile reminding Marcus of a child reading about her favorite superhero or idle. "I cannot begin to express to you what breakthroughs could be made in science if you allowed me the opportunity to just –"

"No invasive experiments will be performed on Khan," Marcus interrupted sternly. "I need him in one piece, not spread all over a lab."

Zell rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, you need him to build you toys – you've told me that already. I was merely fantasizing out loud. I can assure you, this assignment you've given me is more than enough to keep my attention. What was it you wished to designate it again? – Project…?"

"It doesn't have a designation yet," he replied. "Once we're certain we can get something viable out of this, I give it a proper designation. Until then, we don't even know if it's possible."

"Oh, it's quite possible, Admiral," Zell assured him, taking on a note of seriousness for a change. "It'll be difficult, though, no question there. That woman who started the whole Chrysalis Program didn't want any unauthorized… trouble, but with the right treatment and handling, I truly believe your vision is achievable – with the right odds and ends, of course."

"Whatever you need, you've got it, and if we don't have it I'll to it that we get it as soon as possible."

"Excellent!" she exclaimed, grinning. Looking back to the PADD in her hands, tucking a long, dark brown curl behind her ear, she added as a side thought, "Though really, I could have informed you of these possibilities the moment you had Khan in your hands if you'd only come to me and not Dr. Walsh. Why involve her in this anyways? From what I gather, she was a decent psychologist before she insulted her patient to death – literally – but she's nowhere close to being an expert on Augments of any kind. Sure, she wrote a few papers in the Academy on the behavior on Khan and his Augments, but any child could have done that. I've spent my whole life studying, researching, and theorizing on _everything _Augment related from the stands of DNA within their bodies to how many hairs are on their heads. Yet you choose _her_?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, expecting her little tantrum about Alice being in 31 working with Khan instead of her, but it still gave him a headache.

"I picked her because despite her lack of knowledge on their physiology, she knew their minds and was someone who could easily provoke Khan and keep his attention off of me to a more comfortable degree," he explained. "Her methods of treating her patients with hostility before warming up to them is controversial, but exactly what I required to keep Khan's anger turned away from me to some extent. She's succeeded in drawing in his attention, just not in the way I expected. Hell if I understand why, but she's keen on treating Khan like a man, not a superman or a weapon. It's disconcerting, but as I told you this assignment would have been more difficult to get underway if you were here instead. You might disagree, but you're not a likeable woman, and things will go a lot smoother with willing parties."

"Doesn't have to be willing," she pointed out with a shrug. "Hell, you could even crack open another cryotube if you didn't want to risk angering Khan."

Marcus shook his head. "No. Khan is the most advanced of the Augments. It's him we need, but if this is a success then we can turn to including his crew in the project."

"Fair enough," she sighed, setting the PADD down, her attention no longer glued to it. "But for this to work, you are going to have to give me complete control over the project and allow me to handle it as I see fit – within the parameters you've established, of course."

"Why would I give you complete control after the shit you pulled last time you had it?"

"Because you need me helping you," Zell replied with a thin, knowing smile, reclining back in her seat. "You gave me an assignment, Admiral, so like it or not if you want this project to succeed you will have to take a back seat. You focus on your precious weapons and warships, and let _me _focus on Khan and Walsh."

The notion of giving Zell of all people any control over project involving Khan nearly made him ill and he would surely lose sleep over it, but anything less than full control of the project and she might not put 100% into her work. Or she might decide to go public, or do something else to screw him over.

Grinding his teeth, he sighed, "Very well, but Commander Doyle will be working alongside you to ensure that you don't do anything to jeopardize the development of the weapons and ship Khan is currently developing."

"As long as your little errand boy doesn't step on my toes, he can stay glued to my side as long as he wants," she agreed with a shrug. "Now, for the first order of business – oh, this is going to be so exciting!"

"Get to the point, Zell," Marcus ordered sharply.

"Touchy, touchy," she muttered. "For starters, I would get them out of this dismal place sooner rather than later."

He stared at her incredulously. "You of all people should know that letting that bastard on the surface is a disaster waiting to happen."

"Not necessarily," she argued. "Khan is utterly devoted to his crew and I don't believe he'd do anything too distasteful to risk their safety. It's perfectly reasonable for to expect him to behave on the surface."

"Even so," he started, the notion of letting Khan out of 31 incredibly unsettling and disconcerting. "How does him being out of here have any effect on your work?"

"This place is a prison, Marcus, and prisons have rules dictating your actions, eyes watching your every move, something an Augment such as Khan would obviously despise. You want this project to stand a chance? You need to grant Khan a bit of freedom and return some freedom to Walsh as well. Move them out of this place and into their own flats – have them share a flat if you feel so inclined to keep an eye on them both! Let them prance about without your body builders following them around, and watch them dance."

Marcus wished that she would be more serious when she spoke and he already regretted dragging her into this. As smart as she was, she was a pain in his ass if there ever was one.

Unwilling to relent to her terms, he questioned, "And what if you're wrong and he does act or try to run?"

"Then you can dangle one of his crew in front of him as you would do with a disobedient dog to give him incentive to fall back in line," she replied in an almost bored tone, rolling her eyes yet again. "If that fails to get his attention, bring him back kicking and screaming and force him to watch the demise of a fellow Augment. Let one of them defrost and shrivel in the sun for all I care. Or do something to Dr. Walsh – from what I've read, he didn't take kindly to her being harmed by Doyle."

That he didn't, and Doyle was on thin ice with Khan, Marcus knew that for certain. He wondered if Zell would walk out onto that ice and join his Commander in pushing Khan to his limits, or if it was Alice who would become enraged.

Alice had a thick skin, able to take insults and shouting and whatnot with relative ease. Should she be hurt by whatever was said or done to her, she would walk away, vent, and then return to continue working. That had earned her many nods of respect throughout her career and also in 31. A majority of the guards posted around Khan commented once in a while that she was probably the only able to take Khan's occasional verbal abuse along with his threats and throw them right back at him, holding her ground when others faltered. But she was hardly unbreakable, and if she thought she was having problems with Doyle then she was in for a rude awakening with Zell.

Though not as violent as Doyle could be, Zell was known for her nasty bedside manner and total disregard for the pain and suffering of her patients. Compared to her, a Vulcan was warm, gentle, and sweet. She didn't give a damn if she had to strap down her patients while they were screaming in agony – if she was conducting human tests, legal or otherwise, she got results one way or another. Had Marcus not watched out for her, finding her exceptional intellect and skills, she might have eventually found herself arrested. Even if it caused him to lose sleep now and then, it was easy to fabricate a story surrounding her "misconduct" since most of it had been done in Section 31.

On the other hand, Alice genuinely cared about the people she was treating. She could be harsh and cold in the beginning, but her record showed that eventually she would develop a close bond with her patients once she changed gears. Reportedly, some of her former patients still contacted her to wish her happy birthday or to seek advice if they ran into trouble. Never did she abandon them, not even when her work with them was done.

Alice and Zell would certainly clash.

Despite their different professions, they were both doctors with an entirely different way of treating people. What would be interesting was when Alice discovered that she would be playing a part in Zell's new pet project that Marcus had given her.

The psychologist would definitely not take that well, but he would prepare for the day everything came to the light when and if they got there.

Right now, he had to consider letting a very dangerous man out of his cage.

Sensing her chance to push her case, Zell continued, "We've seen how Khan acts while under guard, but I'm curious to see how he will act without the chains, so to speak. Who knows, maybe a taste of freedom will make him easier to control. And it's mentioned in these reports that any time the cameras are not functioning for whatever reason, he and Walsh can be found together, and that there are often times where they angle their bodies so that their faces are unseen and their voices so low they cannot be heard. I can only imagine what they would discuss with absolutely no fear of being seen or heard."

"My demise, most likely," Marcus snorted.

She smiled, amused. "Perhaps. But while Khan's crew is under your control, he will not let anything happen to you. Now, a time may come where he seeks to change the game, but hopefully with my help you'll be able to see that time coming in time to stop him." Sitting forward, interlacing her tanned fingers on the desk, she continued, "This is a controlled environment, and it has been useful so far, but for things to progress that needs to change. If this experiment is going to work, I need to see how Khan interacts with both those around him outside and with Walsh. It will better help me predict and prepare for the future." With a slight shrug, she added, "Tell them this is a… a test."

"A test? And what sort of test should I tell them it is?"

"The best kind – a test of loyalty and trust," Zell replied smoothly. "You stated that you recently refused to wake up any of Khan's crew – tell him that the opportunity to live outside of 31 with no guards is what you are instead willing to offer at this point in time, and that if he does well you will wake one of them. As for Walsh, tell her that you're pleased with her work to where you're willing to allow her back some of her freedom, and start the process of cleaning up that mess she made with her dead patient. It'll show that you're serious. They may hate you, but right now they have no choice but to believe you. Don't throw them a bone, however, and they might very well end this fantasy of yours."

Marcus thought it over for a long moment, deeply considering what she was suggesting he do with both Khan and Alice. Letting Khan out of 31 full time was out of the question, but if Zell needed to see him in an open environment with Alice, he could arrange that.

* * *

Sitting in Regents Park, her dark brown coat wrapped tightly around her to ward off the cold as the snow lightly fell, Alice tried to sooth her racing thoughts.

Ever since Khan's meeting with Admiral Marcus just over a week earlier he'd acted differently around her. She'd thought they were making progress and that her promise to truly give him a chance would bring them closer, but something had happened to pull them apart. He damn near ignored her when he returned to research/development, didn't speak much during their sessions, and outright refused to answer many of her questions about what changed.

All he said was that he had things to think about and Marcus gave him a lot to take into consideration. She didn't have a clue about what he meant by that, but she had a sinking feeling that it had something to do with her.

Had the Admiral found out about their deal? Was that why Khan had taken two steps back?

That was unlikely because she knew for certain that if Marcus thought she'd betrayed him he'd have Doyle finish what he started the night he strangled her. So, what was it that did happen?

Maybe she had done something that made him step back. She didn't think she had done anything that might have overly offended or angered him, but why else would he have reverted back to be so cold and distant? It was embarrassing just how much that possibility upset her, and she didn't like that she cared so much about what he thought of her and whatnot. It bothered her terribly to think that it was something she did.

Sighing, Alice turned her face upward towards the sky, letting the snowflakes land on her face as she waited for Carol.

She had some information on the ship that she needed to pass along to her, and since she needed to get away from the city and people in general she opted for them to meet in the park. Carol hadn't minded at all, often coming to the park whenever she got the chance, claiming that Marcus and her mother brought her there quite often when she was a little girl before they divorced.

It was so incredibly hard for Alice to see Admiral Marcus as the loving father Carol spoke of when she saw him only as a cold, war hungry man willing to use and essentially imprison people.

"Ali!"

Looking to her left, Alice smiled, giving Carol a brief wave as she scooted over on the bench to make room, brushing away some of the snow.

Carol took a seat, adjusting the dark blue hat she wore, and stated, "It's really coming down, isn't it?"

"It is," Alice agreed, taking in the wondrous sight of the snow covered park. "I forgot how much I love the snow – it's beautiful out."

"I know. I'm going to miss it when I go back to San Francisco."

"You're going back?" Alice asked, heart sinking.

She nodded solemnly. "Tomorrow. I've been asked to take over for an instructor at the Academy while she's on maternity leave. There were others they could have asked, but my father put my name forward and his opinion carries with it a great deal of weight. I can't help but feel like he's trying to get me out of his hair."

"If that were the case, he'd keep you here," Alice pointed out. "He spends a majority of his time at HQ, not London."

"He used to. Tom's told me that he heard that Dad's going to be staying here for a few months to oversee a few new projects."

Alice bit back a groan.

Having Marcus around to oversee anything in 31 meant she'd have to be even more careful with what she said to Khan and her gathering of information. Maybe that was what had Khan so uptight lately. If that were the reason, she certainly could understand.

"I just don't understand why he suddenly wants to… to shun me!" she exclaimed sorrowfully, shaking her head in confusion. "It wasn't until I started looking into those bloody torpedoes that this has happened, and I want to know just what about them is so secretive that he won't even speak to me anymore."

"Believe me, I wish I knew," Alice said gently, hooking her arm around her friend's shoulders comfortingly as a twinge of guilt gnawed at her.

Despite his sudden chilly demeanor, Khan had made her promise not to speak of the torpedoes with Carol or anyone else. She could more than likely tell Carol whatever she wanted about the torpedoes and he would never find out, and that would help Carol understand why her father was shunning her. But Khan was right – she was a woman of her word and she did not desire to break promises unless wholly necessary. For Khan to even tell her anything about those torpedoes had shown that he trusted her at least a little, but his making her promise not to speak of them was quite possibly a test that mirrored her own earlier test with him when she allowed him to see the code to his door.

He had chosen not to walk through that door, and she had since chosen not to tell Carol anything about the torpedoes.

The ship, however, and everything else, was fair game.

Releasing her friend, Alice dug through her purse for the PADD she'd prepared for her and handed it over. "I managed to get a hold of some more information on the ship's warp capabilities. It's pretty amazing stuff, actually."

Carol was quick to read through it all as thoroughly as possible, her early sorrow dissipating to genuine curiosity and astonishment. Shaking her head slowly, she asked, "Frightening is the more appropriate word I'd use. The enhanced warp capabilities are stunning, yes, but there is absolutely no need for any ship to be able to fire on anything while at warp. That would mean that the ship is chasing down something as opposed to defending itself against an attack. That is _not _what Starfleet's about!"

"My thoughts exactly," Alice agreed with a short nod, looking at the PADD with her, recalling the first conversation she had with Marcus upon arriving at Section 31.

She knew that Carol was aware that 31's purpose was the creation of weapons and whatnot, but did she know the extent of it all?

It was painfully clear that Marcus was working to militarize Starfleet, if that ship was any indicator. Gaining intelligence and training to handle a worst case scenario was one thing – building warships, torpedoes, and who-knows-what else was very different. She had to wonder if Carol really understood that or if she was purposefully being ignorant to it all – they did say that ignorance was bliss.

She opted not to try to get that through to Carol at the moment, figuring that it would just do more damage when she was still wounded by her father's recent actions. Right now, the _Vengeance_ was what was important.

"Rumor is that it'll be ready for people to come aboard for internal construction and maintenance in a few months and that Harrison might be going up to oversee it all personally," she continued, recalling how she'd heard that rumor being spoken by Donavon who sounded relieved to maybe have Khan out of her hair for a while. "Seeing as I am still overseeing Harrison's mental health and stability, I'm going to do my best to accompany him to that ship if indeed the rumor is true."

Carol looked to her with wide eyes. "You think you might actually be able to do that?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Like I said, right now it's just a rumor."

"Well, if it proves to be true, you being on that ship will definitely be helpful," Carol commented, brightening up a bit now that she had something to hope for.

"If Harrison goes, I'll make sure my ass is on the shuttle with him," Alice assured her, not entirely sure about how she would go about convincing Marcus that she should go if the opportunity came about.

From within her purse, Alice's communicator began beeping rapidly and she turned her attention towards finding it in her cluttered bag. She flipped it open and read the readout on the small screen, furrowing her brows in confusion. "Your father wants to speak with both me and Harrison in…" she checked the time, "about twenty minutes. Can't imagine what for."

"Maybe Harrison's done something to raise some concern – you did say he lost his family and was suffering from PTSD."

That was only partly true, and she sincerely doubted he'd done something. At least she hoped he hadn't done anything. She'd told him that if he was going to stand a chance at getting to go to the surface he was going to have to behave.

Sighing, Alice packed up her communicator, waited for Carol to transfer the data from her PADD to her own, then returned it to her purse as well. "I should get going. It'll take me almost twenty minutes just to get back."

"I'll tag along," Carol said, rising. "I need to finish packing my things and let my landlady know that she'll be able to rent out my loft tomorrow."

"Why not just tell her you'll be gone for some time," Alice asked, not liking the thought of Carol moving out of London altogether when she could really use a friend. "You are coming back once this instructor's leave ends, right?"

Carol replied, "Absolutely, but I was planning on moving into a larger flat anyways. Now's as good a time as any to just be rid of the loft altogether, at which point I can find somewhere better when I get back."

As they walked along the snow covered path, passing a few families and couples here and there, Alice got to thinking about Carol's loft and a thought popped into her head. Before she stopped to even fully consider the question, she asked, "Instead of letting your landlady rent out the loft to someone else, how about you keep it in your name but I use it?"

Perplexed, she asked, "I thought you were living in the living quarters in 31? Why do you need my loft?"

"Do you know how hard it is to find any privacy down there? Along with security cameras all over the place, I am constantly bumping into people and can't even sit down to read without someone knocking on my door. Running around window shopping and frequenting cafes is nice, but even that's starting to drive me nuts. What I need is a place where I can just retreat to where no one will think to look for me." The idea was already making her giddy, the possibility of being able to go somewhere to hide for just a little while here and there making her feel like she could finally breath even when Carol had yet to say yes or no. "Anything that needs done with the place – maintenance, touch ups, anything – I'll take care of it, I swear. Just keep the loft under your name and let your landlady know that I'll be using it while you're away or… or something. Please."

Carol didn't offer up an answer right away, chewing it over for a good minute. Finally, she sighed and nodded. "I'll talk to her and have my last name on the lease changed to Wallace as well – no one who knows me would think I'd ever use my mother's surname, not after she left Dad and me. That should at least lessen the possibility of anyone figuring out that you might be using the loft as a place to relax."

Alice grinned from ear to ear and threw her arms around Carol in a tight hug, making her friend laugh and give her a lighthearted shove away. "Just remember that the loft is terribly small, barely big enough for two people and just comfortable enough for one. It's not like your apartment back in San Francisco where you can comfortably fit a family of four."

"I wouldn't care if the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom were all one room!" Alice exclaimed happily. "As long as I get to be away from 31 and everyone else once in a while."

Both grinning and laughing, the two women made their way out of the park before going their separate ways, and Alice hoped that whatever Marcus had to say to her and Khan would not put a damper on her brightened mood.

Catching the second taxi to come her way, she arrived back at Section 31 with just barely a few minutes to spare, much to her frustration. Had it not been for a situation on the road involving a minor accident between two other commuters she would not have had to jog inside as she was now forced to do. The security officers at the elevator had little care for her haste and did their job as they always did – switching on the scanners and letting them do their thing, pausing to double check the readouts, then ushering her forward. Even the elevator felt painfully slow, her desire to know just what was going on that had Marcus calling both her and Khan in for a meeting so great. As cheery as she currently was, she was still worried as well.

The elevator at long last reached the level where Marcus' office was located and as she stepped out of the elevator she found that her haste had greatly diminished with her growing nervousness. She checked her watch when she reached his door, a security officer posted at each side – she still had four minutes to spare.

Expecting her, they pressed a button on the console and the door slid open, revealing Marcus sitting at his desk with Doyle behind him, one chair beside the desk, and two opposite of him.

Khan was already there and sitting in one of the chairs opposite of Marcus, but in chair beside the desk was a woman whom Alice did not recognize.

She had long chocolate brown hair that was pulled up into a ponytail with a few odd curls hanging lose, tanned skin, and admittedly striking features. Her eyes were equally pretty – a very dark brown that matched her hair – but something about the way the woman looked at her made her uneasy, as did Khan's ridged posture.

"Excellent timing, Doctor," Marcus commented, extending his hand towards the vacant chair beside Khan. "If you'll just have a seat, we can get this over with and you both can get back to whatever it was you were doing."

Hesitating for only a moment, Alice stepped forward, slipping off her coat and draping it over the back of the chair before taking a seat. She glanced at Khan out of the corner of her eye, hoping to learn something from his expression, but just as she expected his face was void of any answers, expression blank. Only his ridged, tense poster gave him away – he was as nervous as she was.

Allowing her a moment to get comfortable, Marcus inclined his head towards the woman and said, "Dr. Walsh, this is Dr. Cynthia Zell. She's a geneticist and could be called _the _leading expert on human augmentation. As such, she is aware of Khan's identity and the circumstances of his… return."

She blinked, taken aback by this bit of information, and she looked at Zell who smiled proudly.

Beside her, Khan remained impassive, likely having already been told this before her arrival.

"Dr. Walsh," Zell began, smile too friendly. "I read through your notes on Khan and must say I'm impressed at what you've been able to learn. Given your field of expertise, it was unexpected."

Alice was unsure if that was meant as a compliment or an insult, so she took it as neither. "I don't see how it's unexpected. I'm a psychologist. It's my job to poke, prod, and get inside his head."

Faintly, Khan smirked, amused.

"You stated multiple times that you believe he should be permitted to head to the surface. Something about 'him needing fresh air or a bit of freedom' or something," she continued, ignoring her comment. "Aren't you worried he'll, oh, I don't know, run off?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You've read my notes," Alice stated coolly. "I want to see how he reacts in public and I believe that even former tyrants need, as you put it, fresh air. Not to mention respect."

She frowned, unsure. "What does respect have to do with him wandering out of 31?"

"Nothing," Alice replied. "But he's sitting right here – quit speaking as if he weren't."

Whatever was going on between them right now, she didn't talking about him like he wasn't even present. It made her uncomfortable.

"I have tried to speak with him," Zell replied, looking more than a little frustrated, a child-like pout forming over her lips as she glanced at the man in question who sat with a very faintly amused expression. "But he's said very little to me and openly ignores anything I've asked him in regards to you."

She blinked.

They were talking about her?

"What about me?" she demanded.

"Oh, I was just curious about what he thought of your methods of treatment," she answered with a shrug. "I wanted to learn a bit more about you, Alice."

"I would prefer it if you called me Dr. Walsh, Dr. Zell," she replied shortly before turning her attention to Marcus, forcing herself not to demand to know what Khan had said about her. "What's going on, Sir? Why is she here asking about Khan and myself? Why is she here at all?"

Interlacing his fingers on the desk, Marcus sat forward and replied, "Recent events have been brought to my attention that some… adjustments must be made. Your progress with Khan has been remarkable, but you have to understand that I can't simply take your word for it that he might be even remotely safe to let of here even for a while, or that he's safe in general. That's why I've asked Zell to assist you."

"_Assist_ me?"

He nodded. "It'll still be your show, but she's to give me a second opinion."

Alice opened her mouth to protest, but Khan took the opportunity to speak up.

"And your chosen voice for this _second opinion _belongs to a geneticist with a fondness for Augments?" Khan asked, knowingly wary.

Zell snorted and muttered, "He speaks."

Right there, Alice decided that she did not like Zell one bit.

Narrowing his eyes fractionally, Khan stated, "You're first compliment to me was to acknowledge my accomplishments through my augmentation, including the ones made during my rule. Most would not call what I did in that time an accomplishment, at least not those who were against what I did. That to me says that you're here for more than just to offer up a second opinion."

Zell smiled thinly. "I'm curious about you and want to learn more."

Khan retorted, "So does Dr. Walsh, but she began our first sessions with insults, disrespect, and passionate disagreement in regards to my way of ruling, and she continues doing so to varying degrees even to this day."

Alice wasn't sure if he was complimenting her or insulting her, and so help her this was all giving her the worst headache she'd ever had. And people wondered why she made a habit of forgetting any communicator or phone or whatever of any kind. Whenever someone called her, problems and headaches followed.

Releasing a long, bored sigh, Khan asked Marcus, "I will repeat Dr. Walsh's question with the hopes of a more solid answer – why is she here?"

Both amused and frustrated by the whole exchange – mostly frustrated – Marcus replied to Khan, "She is here to offer up that second opinion, but there is a lot we don't know about what makes you tick. Dr. Walsh has a good grasp on what's going on in your head, but Dr. Zell can better help me understand what's going on at a cellular level. Augments have heightened aggression and all that, and I want to know more about it. So, while Walsh will continue her sessions with and will shadow you, at the end of the day she will compare notes and theorize with Zell on the extent of your progress as well as more accurately predict your future actions."

Alice had enough to deal with as it was, still stinging and reeling from the cold shoulder Khan had taken to giving her. She did not need to deal with some other doctor who just didn't seem _right _following her around. How was she supposed to speak with Khan privately about anything, especially themselves, with her tiptoeing around her?

"You don't seem too thrilled about the situation, Walsh," Marcus commented.

"That's because I'm not," she replied bluntly, not bothering to hide her irritation. "I was under the impression that progress was being made, but this all seems like an attempt to have us… monitored."

"Progress has been made, and as a show of good faith you're free to take up residence outside of 31 and Khan now has a free pass to come and go as he pleases."

Silence followed and both Alice and Khan just stared at the Admiral as if he'd grown a second head. The Augment recovered first, face returning to its nearly impassive state though confusion and shock still shone brightly in his blue eyes. Alice didn't recover nearly as fast, if at all really.

Pinching the bridge of her nose then rubbing the back of her neck, Alice said slowly, "When I brought up Khan being able to go out for just a day, you didn't like it. Now he's allowed to come and go whenever he wants and I'm allowed to move out if I want to? I don't understand, Sir."

"Dr. Zell and I have been discussing the terms of your stay here as well as Khan's," he explained, speaking as if they were discussing a business arrangement as opposed to their technical imprisonment. Looking to Khan, he continued, "Despite my… discomfort with the idea, Zell insists that keeping you locked up 24/7 will do more harm than good. Since that coincides with Walsh's report, I'm inclined to believe that you both know what you're talking about. So unless this freedom impedes with your work or you give me a reason to lock you back up, you're free to come and go when work doesn't demand you be in the labs."

Khan considered this, wary of the turn of events. "It wasn't long ago when you expressed your concern in my ability to manipulate those around me," he commented knowingly, and Alice's attention turned to him. "And now you are willing to let me out? Dr. Zell must have made some very compelling claims."

Alice looked between the two men, confused and curious by the exchange. Something was said between the lines but damned if she knew what that was. Whatever it was, Marcus smirked marginally and he glanced at her.

"She did," Marcus confirmed, looking back to him. "Which backed up Dr. Walsh's theory about you mingling with the public." Losing his smirk, he looked to Alice and said, "As for you, like I said – you're free to seek housing outside of 31. All I'll need from you is the address of your new residence."

More than anything she wanted to give him her thanks – even if this situation confused her – and go house hunting, but the words caught in her throat as her thoughts raced.

If she took up residence outside 31, she would no longer need the loft she'd talked Carol into letting her use and would only have to go underground for work. She would no longer have to sleep in the uncomfortable room/cell provided to her by Marcus and wouldn't have cameras watching her every move.

But could she know for certain that she wouldn't be watched?

Marcus did just say that he would need her address. A reasonable request, but she knew Marcus well enough to guess that he might send Doyle or someone else to her new home to plant bugs or something. If that happened she would merely be trading one cell for another, and Alice was sick and tired of being watched listened to, and used by the men around her. Not to mention she was also on thin ice with Khan for reasons she didn't know and could not afford to distance herself from him that much, even if she was pissed with him for giving her the cold shoulder and then some.

Licking her dry lips, she said carefully, "While I do… appreciate that offer, Admiral, I think I'll stay right where I am."

Now it was Khan, Marcus, Doyle, and Zell who looked confused, her reply not entirely the response they expected.

"I'd have suspected that you would jump at the chance to spend a night in a real bed," Marcus commented, reading her mind about hating the beds.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? This place has grown on me," she replied dryly with a shrug. "And it'll be easier for me to continue my work with Khan when we're living in the same vicinity. Coming and going for the night, as tempting as that sounds, would just complicate my work."

It wasn't a complete lie.

She needed to be virtually hip to hip with Khan if she was going to do her job, but more than that she wanted to have some freedom – real freedom. With Carol's loft as a safe house, provided she was able to keep Marcus and his people in the dark about it, she could have that sense of freedom once in a while.

Neither Marcus nor Zell were prepared for that explanation and Alice hoped they wouldn't dig too much into it.

Sighing, Zell glanced at Marcus and gave him a shrug.

"If that's what you want," Marcus conceded, looking from Zell and back to Alice. "The offer still stands if you change your mind."

"Thank you, Sir." She had no intention of changing her mind.

Shaking his head at the two of them, Marcus said to them, "You're both dismissed."

Khan and Alice rose from their seats without a word and walked out together, leaving their host to talk behind their backs.

Walking side by side, they didn't say a word on their way to the elevator, but both took notice that they weren't being tailed by guards of any kind. They were alone and could talk more freely if they wanted, not having to worry about a curious guard listening in on them, but Alice chose not to speak.

Alice stepped into the elevator first, moving towards the far corner to lean back against the wall in hopes that Khan would take the hint and leave her alone.

Her luck was not that great, and when he followed her he came to a halt directly in front of her, no more than a foot from her.

Khan reached back and selected their floor with little more than a glance before looking on her once more. "We're leaving tonight at eight o'clock."

She snapped her eyes to his, blinking. "Excuse me? What do you mean _we_? I'd have thought you'd want to wander off alone for a while. Heaven knows I'd like to be more than a few doors or levels away from you."

Jaw muscles tensing beneath the skin, he replied coolly, "There are things we need to discuss that would be better discussed in private."

"I could have arranged a private chitchat, Khan, but you've been cold and distant since the holidays," she snapped.

"Things came to my attention that required me to distance myself in order to figure out how to go about handling these new issues," he replied, tone forcefully calm when his eyes were damn near icy. "Now that I can leave 31, we can have a discussion without being rushed or interrupted."

Growing increasingly uncomfortable with the small space and his close proximity, she replied tersely, "We can, and we will, but not today. I am going to go out later on for fresh air, and you can do whatever the hell you want as long as you walk the other way and just leave me alone."

"I have been leaving you alone since the holidays and you've reacted poorly," he stated as his tone dropped a few degrees at her refusal to accompany him outside. "Yet you now decide that you don't want to talk?"

"I imagine that it must be shocking that someone would not want to be in your presence, Khan. You should get used to having people try to ignore you and walking away because that's what everyone outside is going to be doing. Even if they notice you, chances are they'll just try to ignore you so they can go about their day." The elevator pinged and she smiled tightly. "Here, I'll be the first pretend you don't exist!"

Side stepping around him, Alice stormed out of the elevator with a stomp to her step as she hurried to her quarters to relax before heading out for the evening.

* * *

_**Review, please! Reviews let me know that you wish for more!**_

**A/N: **_**I**** can only take Khan and Alice's growing relationship so far while they are both stuck in Section 31. Seriously, I can only write the cameras being shut down for maintenance and Alice having a buddy of her's in security shut them off so many times before it gets old and ridiculous. For things to progress, they need to get out of that place and experience the freedom to talk unguarded without cameras and whatnot spying on them 24/7, even if that freedom lasts for only a short period of time each day. **_


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